


Broken Bonds

by AliaTurin



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Canonical Character Death, End of the World, Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV (2016), Loss, Multi, Partner Betrayal, Rebuilding, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-02-06 18:09:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 28,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12823167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliaTurin/pseuds/AliaTurin
Summary: Since I finished Comrades I have been a bit disappointed of the lack of details regarding what is happening with pretty much everyone so I decided to provide myself (and you guys) with an explanation from the POV of an OC. It would be multichapter fic, and the whole point is to go through what is happening in Lestallum (beside hunts) how are the characters (Cor, Gladio, Ignis, Prompto etc.) dealing with Noct being gone and rebuilding the world. Following Comrades the OC is a member of the Kingsglaive who managed to escape Insomnia while the city has been destroyed by demons.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading guys. Comments and kudos are more than appreciated. Check out my tumblr: http://the-immortal-marshal.tumblr.com or if you feel like you can feed my coffee addiction at: [Ko-Fi](http://ko-fi.com/aliaturin)

Ada found a small hut that seemed good enough for a shelter during the night. She was starving and had finished her last drop of water few hours ago. With any luck there would be someone in the hut or there might be supplies. Even a rotten vegetable seemed like a feast at that point.

The door was unlocked which was good news, she wasn’t sure if breaking the door was within her physical abilities at the moment. The hut was empty and looted. The furniture was broken or stolen, there was broken glass from what she assumed were cupboards and pieces of torn clothing. She started systematically going around the place looking for food or water but she had no luck. Shelter was the only things he could get from that place and it was still better than nothing.

She gathered few of the clothes and put them in one of the corners. That was going to serve as her bed for tonight. She sat on top of the pile, her back facing the corner, her eyes having view to every possible entrance of the place. Next to her foot there was a small wooden stick, and Ada reached for it. With some imagination it looked like a candle. She held it in her fingers and lit the stick with magic.

“Happy birthday to me.” She whispered sadly. 

Years ago, when she still lived in Galahd with her family she had them and her friends to celebrate. Then they were forced to move out since the Empire was treating them worse and worse with every passing year. Still even as e refugee she had her family and then when she joined the Kingsglaive, there was that. But now her family and the Glaive were gone, and she was homeless and alone.

She sank into dark sleep, having the same nightmares she has been having since Insomnia fell. She was alone running out of the city, bleeding heavily and her head hurting as if someone put a nail in it. Then she dreamt of her argument with Luche. They argued until he lost his temper and slammed her hard against the wall. At that point she realized arguing is not how thing would go down. They fought and he won, leaving her almost dead. In the months that followed she still couldn’t decide what hurt more, the wounds or the fact she was betrayed and helpless. The wounds have healed since then, but she was still having nightmares and flashbacks.

Ada woke up from the sound of demons roaring outside.

“Everybody I know is either death or a traitor.”

It has been one year since all that happened and her mind was still not free of the guilt. She spent the rest of the night staring in the darkness unable to calm her mind.

Morning came and it was time for her to move on. If she didn’t find water today she was going die very soon.

The darkness had not left completely. It has been months since she had seen fully lit day. Right now, the sky looked mostly like a sunset and she knew it will continue looking like that for the rest of the day. Ada looked around for some familial landmarks. She had lost her map and her phone was broken so navigation was difficult especially when there was no sun. She decided on a direction but before she could make even a step further something roared from behind her. She didn’t need to wonder what that might be, it was vary recognizable sound. She pulled a knife in one hand and prepared a fire spell in the other.

In front of her was standing a giant flan. Ada took a deep breath realizing she had the strength to fight for no more than five minutes.

Pain was the first thing that came to her mind as she slowly regained consciousness. It wasn’t pain at particular location, it was all over the body, every muscle, every joint every bone hurt. Distantly, somewhere far away somebody was talking to her. She couldn’t hear actual words but there was a voice and if there was a voice there had to be someone speaking.

“Ada!”

Yes, that was her name…who was calling her? She knew she had to open her eyes, but that seemed too difficult right now.

“Ada!”

She slowly opened her eyes. First everything was blurry, ten there was almost no light. For a second she thought something was wrong with her sight, the light was really weird, but as soon as the person in front of her came to focus she realized it wasn’t her sight it was the sky that was wrong. That was right, the sky has been like that for some time now. Her brain slowly started switching into gear. 

“Libertus…” she mumbled recognizing the man kneeling in front of her. That had to be some sort of a dream or probably she hit her head very bad.

“There you go, few more minutes and I was going to slap you.” He helped her up and passed her a bottle of water. “You seem like you need that.”

She took the water looking at him with suspicion. From all the places in the world to meet another Glaive it happened now. It felt strange. The last Glaive she talked to almost killed her.

‘I was too weak to stop him’ the invited thought just appeared in her mind.

“Thanks, Libertus. You are sight for sore eyes.” She decided to act normal, but at the back of her head she couldn’t stop her defense mechanisms kicking. What if he was after her? What if he had betrayed the King as well?

“I don’t hear that very often.” He passed her two knives. Does where her knives, maybe she lost them during the fight? If he was passing her the knives, maybe he wasn’t after her head. “Hey, we are trying to restore Lestallum and to be honest we desperately need help. Do you think you want to join us?”

Ada bit the inside of her cheek. She has been on her own for almost one year and it was difficult, recently it became even more difficult, but…could she trust Libertus? The Glaives did betray the king and she has not heard from any of them for a year. Not that she ever looked to hear from any of them but there was a reason for it. Luche was one of her best friends since her first day with the Glaives and her head hurt for a month after the encounter with him. Ada wondered if she could take Libertus and the answer was no. Few months ago, probably, but now she was starving and weak.

“Come on. We have roof over our heads and we don’t get attacked by demons all the time.” Libertus offered her an encouraging smile, but it was the roof over her head that won her over.

She nodded and so she found herself in a truck with Libertus and bunch of meteor shards.

“What are these for?” Ada asked pointing to the meteors. They were strangely pretty even if they were just piled in an old crate.

“Lestallum power station. It’s the only way we can keep the city up and running and of course avoid demons.” Libertus explained, but he wasn’t looking at her. His gaze was somewhere behind probably looking if demons would follow them.

“What did you do after Insomnia?” she decided to address the elephant in the room eventually. After all, once they reached Lestallum she might end up dead.

“Went back to Galahd. I was hoping Nyx would join me but…he never came.” It was strange selection of words. She knew the two of them were close, even if Ada was coming from Galahd as well she never was part of their gang. Compared to them she was relatively new in the Kingsglaive and so she had to find her own crowd. “Eventually decided there were more important things than just sit and wait and heard that the Marshal is trying to bring some civilization to the world.”

“What…happened? In Insomnia.” She slowly moved her hand towards her knife and started preparing a spell. If she didn’t like the answer, she wasn’t going to continue on that journey.

“You don’t remember?” He sounded surprised.

“I wasn’t conscious. Luche left me for death after I refused to participate in his plot. I know the Glaive helped the Niffs, but…when I woke up it was already night and Insomnia was gone.” Her chest was hurting just to talk about that. It has been almost a year and she was still not over it. She was helpless and useless to do the one thing she was supposed to do – defend the king and the people. She had ended up beaten and dying and the best she could do was to run. Maybe she should have died. Maybe Luche leaving her alive was bigger punishment than killing her.

“Whoa!” he almost shouted, staring at her as if she was suddenly growing a second head. “There is a lot you have missed. Well to bring you up to speed, some of the Glaives did betray the king. Luche included. The king was killed by General Glauca, I helped the Oracle escape Insomnia….” He suddenly felt silent.

“What happened with the Captain?” All these months she had blamed herself for not going to him to tell him about Luche, instead she thought she can convince Luche to stop or to stop him whichever worked. Stupid naïve girl….

“Luche really knocked you out very hard if you have missed that as well.” Libertus seemed even more surprised now at her ignorance. “The Captain was in fact General Glauca. Or General Glauca was the Captain, I’m not really sure who came first. The Captain killed the King and he tried to kill the Oracle. Nyx stopped him or I assume he did since nobody has heard from Glauca ever since and somebody else was made a leader of the Niff armies.”

Ada’s head was spinning. Titus Drautos…Glauca? How did that happen? The man was leading the Glaive, the man was fighting with them against the Imperials. He was next to them, he was supporting them, training them, teaching them. So, it wasn’t Luche that was behind the betrayal, something she thought all along. It was way deeper and Luche was just following orders. She wondered what would have happened if Drautos had come to her. If he had told her they were about to kill the king. Would she have said yes as well? She had the utmost admiration for the man, she respected him and now even that was gone.

‘My home is gone; my friends are gone and my teacher is gone.’ The words alone and loneliness suddenly reached whole new scale.

“How about Nyx? You said he never came to Galahd?”

Libertus just shook his head and Ada nodded. What she saw in the eyes of her fellow Glaive was very familiar denial. Same denial she saw in her own eyes every time she looked at her reflection. Nyx Ulric was dead, but Libertus had yet to admit it to himself. The exact same way she had to admit to herself her own failure and weakness.

“Luche was killed as well.” Libertus finally said. “He deserved what he got. Burned to death that idiot.” There was a faint smile on his lips. It wasn’t mockery, but more like relief that an enemy has fallen. Ada couldn’t sympathize with that. Not now at least. “I’m sorry, I know you two were close.” Libertus added quickly.

Ada just shook her head. Luche’s death was his own doing. They were friends, he was the first one to greet her in the Glaive and they happened to come from the same island of Galahd which made it easier to bond. Yet, despite everything he did, she missed him even if she hated him. Sometimes at night she wondered if she was stupid or masochistic.

“Here it is!” Libertus got up and pointed ahead of them.

Lestallum was…beautiful despite the ugly fences and barricades. Best of all there was light. Artificial light, but it was the brightest thing she had seen in months.

“Come on, we need to drop that” he pointed to the meteor shards. “And I need to introduce you to the Marshal.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter takes place right after the first one. Not much happening here but gives more insight on the OC and how things are running in Lestallum (thanks Square for not going into these details). 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy the chapter comments and kudos are appreciated. Come and say hi on tumblr: the-immortal-marshal.tumblr.com

The Marshal was called away at the gates due to some sort of trouble and Libertus was kind enough to take her to his own ‘home’. He was living in one of the buildings within the barricade, a small apartment that probably before all that was a bigger apartment but now was split so it can accommodate more people. Even with that he had pretty much everything needed. Bedroom, a bath and even a small kitchen which he said he never uses since food is usually distributed to everyone and people ate together in improvised canteens as much as possible.

“Can I take a shower?” she needed that badly and the idea of just being around water made her more than excited.

“Sure. Just have in mind the water is cold. We don’t have enough power to heat it.” He said apologetic. “I will see if I can find you some clean clothes. I doubt anything I own would fit you.” He gave her one of his cheerful grins. He was just this type of guy, capable to take every situation easy without stressing so much. The first time she had seen him really angry was after what happened with Crowe…

He left her alone and Ada sighed in relief. Part of her enjoyed having company, especially someone she knew, however the funny thing about being alone was that eventually you get used to it. It becomd so familiar that it hurt you when somebody was dragging you out of this bubble of loneliness even if you wanted to be free from it.

The water was cold, but she didn’t mind. It was better than nothing. Once she was done she looked herself in the cracked mirror in the bathroom. She had lost so much weight. All the muscle had fallen from her body, and she was just skin and bones. She hated it. The scar that Luche was given her just below her collar bones was still there, with time it had just changed its colour from red to white. Her fingers clenched the sink unintentionally. Few inches up and he could have cut her throat. He obviously had been willing to kill her why didn’t he do it? It was pointless to think about that now. She had thought about it every single day since Insomnia fell and she still didn’t have an answer. What troubled her more was the question would she have killed him if she had the upper hand. She never came close enough to harm him seriously, but if she had been in situation where her knife was at his throat, what was she going to do then. Part of her was happy she never found out the answer to that question. 

In one of the drawers she found pair of scissors and she used them to cut her hair. The red hairs falling in the sink reminded her of blood drops and as soon as she was done she cleaned them almost hysterically. At least now she was a bit happier with her look. Her hair was shoulder long, the front part a bit shorter and she proceeded yo braiding few locks and tying them at the back. She almost looked like her formal self, minus some sleep and significant weight loss.

Ada wrapped a towel around herself and walked in Libertus’ bedroom. He was back there and pile of clothes was on the bed. 

“They should fit. With the way things are, we cannot be picky about size and colour.” He tried to give her a warm smile but then his eyes fell on the scar under her neck. “What happened there?”

“Luche.” She responded quickly and grabbed the clothes closing the bathroom door behind herself. He had brought her pair of black jeans, a red t-shirt and a jacket. It was more than sufficient and the only issue was that the jeans were too long, but it was the misfortune if a short person.

“He didn’t hold back, did he?” Libertus shouted from the other room. 

She didn’t know the answer to that. He didn’t, but yet she was alive. So maybe he did. 

Ada walked out of the bedroom all dressed and looking more like herself than a muddy orphan. 

“Now you look amazing!” Libertus gave her a friendly wink and she responded with sad smile. That did remind her too much of home, her second home, Insomnia. They all used to joke and laugh during training, make fun of each other or tease each other. When she looked back at that time, it seemed like everyone got together and they were really like family. Of course, that wasn’t truth. They had their differences and conflict but every family did.

“Is the Marshal back?” she asked trying to stop thinking about how things used to be. 

“Yeah, I saw him while I was picking the clothes for you. He should be in the Leville, he has made his office there. He would be expecting you.” Libertus offered her an encouraging smile. “Maybe we can grab some food after that? To catch up.”

Ada didn’t answer but nodded in agreement. Food right now seemed amazing especially since her stomach was hurting from hunger.

Cor the Immortal had made the manager’s office of the Leville his own. As she walked into the room he was staring at a map placing pins at what she assumed was important locations for whatever he might be planning. She never had the honour to meet the man before, although she had seen him around the Citadel. She didn’t think about it when Libertus told her he was working with the Marshal but now that she was with the man in the same room she felt intimidated. He was after all the Marshal and she was just a Glaive no one cared about.

“Yes?” the Immortal final asked since she had not opened her mouth for probably two minutes after she walked in. 

“I’m sorry to disturb you, sir. Libertus send me to introduce myself.” At the back of her head she was freaking out. Since a child she knew who the man was and admired him and now she was here with him talking like an idiot. “My name is Adelais Ardens I used to be with the Glaive. You can call me Ada.”

“The new girl Libertus told me about.” He turned toward her, his arms crossed. “He says you are pretty good with magic.”

“He probably exaggerates my abilities.” Ada wasn’t selling herself short, but the truth was she lost probably the most important fight she ever fought. What good were skills if she couldn’t do her job?

“We will see about that. Monica is one of my Crownsgards, you can find her in the city center. Speak with her about accommodations. We are a bit short on equipment, but if you need anything, ask her she might be able to provide. Most stores work with cash or for exchange so if you run into something valuable during your hunts you might want to bring it with you. We have few main objectives for now: finding more meteor pieces, saving refugees, opening as many outposts as we can sustain and looking for the Prince. The hunters and the crownsguard are looking for the prince so you don’t need to bother with that, focus on the rest.”

“You don’t trust the Glaive?” the words just came out of her mouth without thinking. 

“It’s a work in progress.” He answered dryly. 

It was amazing how much he reminded her of the captain. Same no-nonsense type of aura, straight to the point, not holding punches back. Then it hit her. These two have probably been friends or something similar enough. The Glaive didn’t just betray the King and the kingdom. The Marshal was betrayed as well. That at least put them in the same boat.

“You up for some work?” he asked her.

“I need to grab some food I haven’t eaten in days, but after that I am free.” Ada didn’t like the fact she had to admit a weakness, but the idea of venturing out now when she barely stood on her legs seemed terrible. 

“Good. There is a group of refugees, south of here.” He made a sign for her to come closer and look at the map. Just now she realized how much taller than her he was. “We will leave in two hours to pick them up.”

Ada was sure he had other things to do and that somebody else could be send to pick up these refugees. There was no need for Cor the Immortal to do it personally, but he didn’t trust her and she didn’t blame him. At that point it was probably easier to trust someone who was in the Niff’s armies than a Glaive that just randomly appears half dead. Libertus vouching for her has earned her the right to stay here for now, but the Marshal was pulling the strings of hunters, crownsguard and glaives and it was understandable if he wanted the last word on how reliable somebody is. Ada was surprised he wasn’t beheading them all given that even their Captain was involved in what turned to be the end of the kingdom.  


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First mission with the Marhsal, helping refugees, Gldio makes brief appearance (there will be more of him in the next chapter), Libertus is about to learn some bad (old) news, I'm terrible at writing summaries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, now I'm slowly reaching to the point where you can see a bit more Comrades spoilers, mainly the fact that Gladio appears at some point. A lot of rferences here toward Kingsglaive. 
> 
> Thank you for reading guys. Comments and kudos are more than appreciated. Check out my tumblr: http://the-immortal-marshal.tumblr.com or if you feel like you can feed my coffee addiction at: [Ko-Fi](http://ko-fi.com/aliaturin)

Ada stepped off the truck and noticed that the arm of one of the refugees was bleeding.  She felt bad for not noticing that earlier, but the combat had drained big part of her strength and she had spent most of the journey sleeping.

“Hey, let me help with that.” She reached for the refugee, but he pulled away as if she was trying to sell him poison.

“I don’t need the help from treacherous witches.” He spat in front of her legs and probably was going to say or do way more but a hunter came between the two of them.

“Easy there, pal. She just saved all of your asses.” The hunter made sure the man walked away before turning to Ada.

“Thank you.” She muttered, not really sure what else she was supposed to say. Technically the glaives _were_ treacherous.

“Not a problem.” The man gave her a warm smile and proceeded to help the rest to unload the truck. Ada just stared at the men, women and children coming to Lestallum, but kept her distance not wanting a second accident like that. She had faced something similar in Insomnia, locals hated refugees like herself, but she also had managed to build her life there.

_‘All my friends are gone.’_

That wasn’t entirely truth of course, Libertus was here and from what she gathered from him other Glaives were around or coming to join them. The problem with Libertus was she felt guilty for what happened to Crowe and knew how close they used to be.

_‘Is there something I don’t feel guilty about? Crowe’s death, the Kings death…even Luche’s death which was ironic since he got what he deserved.’_

“He won’t be the only one who would do that, you know?” The Marshal had stepped behind her and interrupted her thoughts. Her heart was still skipping a beat whenever he came close to her, after all he was the Marshal and even if she fought alongside him just hours ago, he remained a legend and a hero. The way he fought made her feel even more intimidated by him. She considered Nyx, the Captain and Luche as the best fighters she had ever seen, but the Marshal was something completely different. He has turned fighting into form of art.  

 _‘That’s why he is still alive.’_ Ada reminded herself, but then again, she was alive as well and it wasn’t because of her superior skills.

“I can’t say I blame him, sir. The Glaive did betray the king, and it doesn’t matter if two, ten or twenty among them didn’t. The fact is the Captain, I mean general Glauca was a Glaive. I can deny all day that I had nothing to do with that, but Glauca decided that for all of us one year ago.” It was still very difficult for her to process the thought. She needed a year to finally come to terms Luche and the rest had betrayed the kingdom. Probably another year would make her come to terms Titus Drautos wasn’t the man she thought he was, very literary.

“First of all, don’t call me sir. Marshal or Cor, but no sir. Second, you did well today.” He didn’t exactly smile, his face reminded expressionless, but she could see some sort of approval in his cold blue eyes.

Ada watched as the Marshal walked away and took a very deep breath. Cor the Immortal just told her she did a very good job. She looked around to check if there was someone who saw that to ask them if he really did but there wasn’t. She was all alone, not a single person she could share the one moment of excitement.

 

On her way to Monica, to sort out some final details, she met Libertus. Ada didn’t forget about lunch with him, but the Marshal asking her to join him in the rescue mission had provided her with a very good excuse to avoid him.

“I’m sorry Libertus, the Marshal wanted me to go with him.” She probably should have looked for him and explain she was going away with the Marshal, but it subconsciously she had avoided the whole thing.

‘ _What have I become, by the Astrals, he is my friend.’_

“Don’t worry, when you didn’t show up I asked here and there and figured it out.” He gave her a friendly smile which made her heart sink. She didn’t deserve that sort of kindness. “But we can grab desert?”

“Sure!” she agreed unable to say no and followed him to the improvised canteen. She was silent while walking, letting him talk about how Lestallum had fought the demons and how they started building the barricades and all other defense mechanism they had put into place.

 _‘Does he know about Crowe…does anyone know about Crowe…’_ Ada couldn’t stop thinking about that while listening to his voice.

 When they reached the canteen, the desert was some strange looking cake which made Ada wonder if she really wanted it that bad. She just hoped there will ne enough sugar in it to help her boost her strength.

Libertus led her among the tables and sat next to a cute looking girl with black hair and a big man with very similar facial features to the that girl.  

“Ada, that is Iris, she overlooks one of the local shops. She helped me earlier to find some clothes for you.” Libertus explained and girl beamed with the brightest smile Ada has seen in months. This smile reminded Ada of herself, years ago when she first came to Insomnia. She was a refugee, escaping the war, very similar to this girl and somehow she had managed to keep her spirits up and make a new home. That wasn’t the case now.

_‘Maybe we all get just once second chance and we have to use it wisely, after that we die.’_

“It’s so nice to meet you! Libertus told me you guys both come from Galahd, I have never been there, maybe you can tell me about it.” Isis said with bright smile on her face.

“I don’t mind.” Ada smiled in return but in fact she did mind. Galahd was painful topic after all. Last person she talked with about Galahd almost turned her brain into jelly on his floor.

“I’m Gladio.” The man next to girl flashed her with bright smile and gave her his hand in a greeting. He was really a mountain of muscle, massive compared to the girl next to him. His shirt was unbuttoned and Ada could see scars covering his chest as well as his face.

“Gladio is my brother.” Iris continued. “He is Prince Noctis’ shield. He just arrived in town”

Ada’s discomfort in the present company grew rapidly. If that was the prince’s shield it meant his father was the king’s shield, killed by no other but the Captain of the Kingsglaive. She felt responsible for their father’s death even if rationally she realized there was nothing she could have done. Unable to figure out what to say she just smiled back at Iris.

“Excuse me I have to check something with, Monica.” Ada grabbed her plate and stood of the table as quick as possible without looking as if she was trying to escape the conversation, which actually she was doing.

She didn’t check anything with Monica instead went straight to her new accommodations. Her ‘apartment’ looked very similar to Libertus’ but had significantly less furniture and personal items. Her backpack was there and someone had left a blanket over the bed but that was just about it.

“Ada.” Libertus’ voice came in as he knocked at the door. “Come on, I know you didn’t go to speak with Monica.”

She opened the door and let him in without looking at the man.

“You want to talk?” he leaned against one of the walls as Ada sat on bed. She was still not at her full strength and that trip with the Marshal did drain her. She caught herself that she was trying to hide her weakness from Libertus absolutely unintentionally. Ada knew Libertus wasn’t here to kill her, if he wanted to, he could have done it hours ago, but she just couldn’t relax. She used to trust the Kingsglaive more than anything and she knew Libertus was good, but her subconsciousness wasn’t letting it go.

“Talk about?” there was one thing she wanted to take off her chest, but it was too painful. It was going to break Libertus’ heart the same way it broke hers, assuming he didn’t know already.

“Come on. You sound all happy about desert and then you leave the table. What happened there?” Libertus had changed so much in that one year. She never perceived him as a leader or someone who was able to lead but now he was wearing the shoes he was given.

“Do you feel guilty? About what happened?” Ada decided to fight against her new developed instinct to ignore everyone and hide herself behind imaginary walls.

“At times. Sometimes I would sit and think, what could have been done to prevent that or what did we do wrong, but none of us could have seen the Captain being Glauca. Even if somehow, we had sniffed out Luche and the others, who could have imagined that about the captain.” Libertus gave her an encouraging smile and Ada felt as if she didn’t deserve that kindness and his friendship.

“I could have.” She wasn’t looking at him but rather down at her shoes. The dirt on them was annoying her and she suddenly felt hysterical need to clean them. “I should have seen that coming.”

“How?” Libertus stepped closer to her and knelt in front of her forcing her to lift her head and look at him.

“You know Luche and I were close, right?” her eyes started filling with tears.

He nodded.

“He has been talking for probably two years how he feels the king is not doing enough and we are just being used. How he misses Galahd.” Ada paused. Memories, both good and bad, started flowing through her mind uninvited. “And then it was the phone calls. He would walk out of the room to talk with the Captain on the phone. I knew it was Drautos because I saw who the caller was, I even picked up the phone once when Luche was in the shower, I thought he might be seeing someone else and used ‘Titus Drautos’ as the caller ID so I don’t get suspicious. It was the captain’s voice and I never questioned why. I just let it past, I let it happen, I wasn’t good enough to see it. I was too naïve and even happy.” Truth was she felt guilty for feeling happiness in that situation.  “Insomnia was my new home, I had friends…I was blind.”

“Hey, hey.” He grabbed her hands in his and made her look up. Her eyes weren’t just filled with tears now, she was crying. Funny it has been year since that happened, and she had been blaming herself for Luche every single day but she never cried. “We all missed that. Tredd, Luche…they spoke like that not just in private. How many times have you heard Tredd or Axis talk over drinks how the king is using us and all that? Far too many. What we all did was laugh or tell them to stop complaining. Nobody ever said a thing. Plus, I hope Luche is suffering somewhere in his death, but one thing I have to give the bastard is he was smart. He never would have allowed anyone to suspect him, nit until it was time to strike.” Libertus fell silent for a moment then added with more cheerful voice. “He was smart enough to hide your relationship. I mean we all suspected he is not just nice and friendly to you, but none of you ever said anything.” That was true. They both had agreed that would create more trouble so they kept it low key. “How long have you been at it?”

“About four years.” Ada answered drily. It seemed awful long time but it wasn’t. Four years meant nothing when you couldn’t see something so obvious. “Crowe knew. I told her.” Crowe was like bigger sister for her, looking after her when she joined the Glaive.

“She never told me.” He was still trying to keep the cheerful tone, but Ada could see how Crwoe’s name brought certain sadness to his voice.

“Libertus…Luche killed Crowe.” Suddenly the smile disappeared from his face and he let go of her hands. “I’m so sorry. When we were fighting he told me he did it. He told me that he shot her.” Ironically for all his threats and skills Luche never used a gun against her which probably would have ended things way quicker.

 _‘Hands are more personal than bullets.’_ She was convinced that he had to hate her a lot in order to strangle her and try to break her skull instead of just shooting her. _‘Or I wasn’t worth the bullet.’_

Libertus didn’t say anything. Ada was hoping he would just nod and say that he knew. That he would be angry or sad, but that silence was killing her. Funny how several minutes ago she wanted to avoid him exactly because of what she knew, and now she hated herself sensing the perspective she might lose him as well.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things moving a bit, Ada slowly starting to find a new purpose. After 3 chapters filled angst and a lot of slef blame,, I think that would be a nice change of pace. Also Ignis, Gladio and Prom make appearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First and foremost many thanks to birdsandivory on tumblr for making some great tinder edits with the glaive which I sort of used in this chapter. Please go check them out: http://birdsandivory.tumblr.com/kingsglaive
> 
> Second: Thank you for reading guys. Comments and kudos are more than appreciated. Check out my tumblr: http://the-immortal-marshal.tumblr.com or if you feel like you can feed my coffee addiction at: [Ko-Fi](http://ko-fi.com/aliaturin)

_This dream, as many of her dreams, was just an old memory._

_She woke up from the sound of somebody entering her apartment. Ada got up, knife in hand and wrapped straight to the intruder._

_“Easy now. It’s just me.” Luche was holding his hand in the air and she let go._

_“Why…how did you get in.”_

_“I broke in.” he showed her his tools. “You didn’t s how up yesterday or today and you didn’t answer your phone or respond to any of my text messages.”_

_Her eyes fell on the phone lying lonely on the coffee table, the light for missed call blinking angrily._

_“I didn’t hear it.” She didn’t even remember leaving her phone there. “I told the captain I will be away.”_

_“He is gone for some business. You should have told me as well.” He was getting to his bossy self but raised an eyebrow teasingly. “What’s with the dress?”_

_She had to look at herself to realize she was still wearing the black dress from yesterday._

_“I was at a funeral.” She answered._

_“Somebody I know?” his sounded concerned._

_“My dad.”_

_“I’m sorry to hear that” he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You should have told me, I would have come with you, you shouldn’t be alone.”_

_She stared at him not sure what to say. It didn’t even cross her mind to ask anyone to come with her. She had told Drautos she needed leave and the reason, he told her to take a week off and that was it. Truth was that her father has been sick for such a long time that it was expected and she didn’t feel like there is a need to ask someone to come with her._

_“Come on change in something more comfortable. I will make you breakfast.” He pushed her gently toward her bedroom._

_“You don’t have to…” she started but he interrupted her._

_“Yes, I do. Come on, I promise I won’t poison you.”_

_As she was changing her clothes she could hear him going through her pans, pots, plates and swearing as he dropped something on the ground._

_“Do you need help?” she shouted from the bedroom._

_“I will not be defeated by a pan, don’t worry.”_

_When she walked back in the kitchen he was frying eggs and bacon. Smelling the food made her realize how hungry she was._

_“Thank you.” Ada said, but that was when the dream went out of hand. In her memories what he did then was turn around and ask her if she wanted him to stay for the day. Her dream had chosen different course of actions. Instead as Luche turned he was holding his gun and shot her in the chest._

 

Ada woke up sweating and shaking. These dreams never stopped. Ever since she left Insomnia she was having these dreams, memories turning into nightmares. Sometimes they weren’t memories, but close enough, small details were different, but essentially it was her previous life ending with everyone dying.

There was no chance she would be able to sleep more so she just got out of the bed. She went through her backpack in attempt to unpack and make this place a bit more ‘hers’ but there was nothing in that backpack that could help. The only item that was somehow related to her old life was her phone and it had died on her months ago. She made a mental note to find someone to fix it.

Since there was nothing better to do, Ada walked out. The town was sleeping excluding few guards on the wall and around the entrances. The demons roaming outside the barricades could be heard but by now she was so used to their sound that it didn’t bother her. Walking down the streets, she found her way to the hotel where she saw the Marshal. He was alone, just standing there like a statue. Ada wondered if interrupting him would be a good idea, but apparently, they both had issues sleeping so why not kill time till breakfast.

“Cannot sleep?” The Marshal offered her the bottle he was holding and Ada was going to question his senses for drinking alone in the middle of the night but as she touched the liquid with her lips she realized it was water.

“Nightmares. I used to have them now and then while I was in Insomnia but since the city fell it has been every night.”

“You want to share?” he sounded somehow different. Not like the Marshal but friendlier.

“Not much to share. I dream mostly memories. Things that happened and it all ends messed up. Hanging out with friends, having fun and then suddenly they all die or I die.” Her brain had managed to ruin every single good memory she had and turn them all into parade of broken or burned bodies.

“Oh those.” He agreed as if he was an expert on nightmares. “It ruins everything, doesn’t it? Every single memory you have, good or bad ends up being just a graveyard.”

Ada didn’t answer at first. She didn’t know what to say exactly. He was right of course, everything and everyone she ever loved had turned into zombie trying to kill her.

“You need to let go.” Cor continued since she didn’t answer. “If you don’t let go, it just kills you.” Another pause then he continued again. “If you couldn’t help the people you love, you can help them.” He made a gesture with his hand toward the dark buildings in Lestallum.  

Ada opened her mouth to argue with him, but what Libertus told her last night also hit her at the same time. It wasn’t hear fault, and regardless how much guilt she felt about everything, rationally there was nothing she could have done.

“How do you let go?” she asked after they both stood in silence.

“You cannot let go because you had a purpose. Protect the king, win the war, protect your home, protect your friends, make sure they all come home alive. Now the king is dead, the kingdom is gone and there is nothing left. You are wrong. The kingdom is here and needs people with skills, people who can stop them.” He pointed with his head toward the demons roaring outside. “Trust me, I am an expert on the topic of letting go and not letting go.” He gave her a friendly smile and for some reason Ada felt like a massive weight had fallen off her chest. What he was saying wasn’t solving any of her problems of course. Her brain wasn’t going to completely forget everything just because Cor the Immortal said so, although he did manage to hit a spot.

“Thank you, Marshal.” Ada smiled back at him and for first time in months it was an honest smile. Not a sad one or forced one, she was truly feeling better.

“Now you need to do something for me. I promised someone I will train with them before breakfast, but something came up and I will be leaving Lestallum probably until tomorrow or the day after. If you go to the power station, just next to the bridge he should be there around sunrise. His name is Gladio, hard to miss him, bug guy, scars across his face…”

“I met him yesterday.” Ada interrupted the description.

 

She spent the time before sunrise going around town and chatting with some of the hunters. Ada wondered if she shouldn’t talk with Libertus but common sense won and she decided he won’t like her more for waking him up so early. Instead she just walked up to the power station and waited for Gladio to appear. The man was exactly on time which honestly surprised her. The people around town have complained about the prince’s retainers and she expected him to be fashionably late. He was just on time, probably a bit early.

“You are way too good looking to be Cor.” He was carrying a massive sword with himself, the weapon was probably larger and heavier than Ada.

“He is busy. Told me to keep you company.” Ada pulled one of her knives and tossed it in her hand.

“If I win, you are having breakfast with me.” Gladio chuckled and walked toward the bridge that was between the city and the power station.

Ada laughed, she was sure she would lose, but on the other hand breakfast sounded amazing.

They started slow. Gladio made one attack which Ada hoped is not his best because it honestly was too easy to see. She wrapped once aiming for his throat but he threw her flying away towards the wall.

“If that’s what the glaive is made of, I’m honestly disappointed.” Gladio taunted her, but she ignored him. Taunting each other was what the Glaives did in their free time, that wasn’t going to ruin her concentration.

They fought for probably fifteen minutes, neither of them getting an upper hand. Gladio wasn’t very fast but he was hellishly strong and was good at avoiding her magic attacks. She was trying to find an opening, but it was hard when her opponent was twice her size and every attack was counter attacked with strength she could barely stop. Eventually Ada decided to play dirty. She stopped attacking him and was focusing only on building a spell and avoiding his attacks. Once she was done with the spell she unleashed it on him. The weather around Gladio suddenly changed, snow and wind wrapped around him blocking his visibility.

She could hear him cursing and wrapped towards the storm. She hated this spell because it affected everyone, friend or foe, herself included. For her surprise he still had pretty good instinct where to find her, but this time she was faster. She tripped him making him lose his balance, wrapped again, on top of him as he was falling, her thighs squeezing hard his neck.

As the storm cleared Gladio just stared at her, his head between her legs.

“I’m not sure if I’m aroused right now or scared.” He tapped on the ground. “I will give you that one.”

“Whoaaa that was so good!” they had managed to collect small audience which made Ada feel a bit uncomfortable. She let go of Gladio and gave him a hand to stand up.

“It’s not every day that Gladio falls on his ass.” A bubbly blond boy with camera in his hand came towards them. “Can’t wait to show you the pictures.”

“Prompto, shut up or you are next.” Gladio roared at the younger man.

“Gladi, you are such a bad loser. She won fair and square.” Iris had joined them as well, she seemed in very good spirits for someone who just saw their brother falling flat on his ass.

“Crownsguard zero, Kingsglaive one.” Ada looked confused at Libertus as he said that. She was sure he was too upset with her, but nothing like that was visible on his face. “Even the Marshal was impressed.” He continued.

“I thought he left town?” Ada asked.

“He did but he watched for a bit.” Libertus answered and gave her friendly punch on her shoulder.

“Come on big guy, Iggy made breakfast.” Prompro didn’t seemed concerned with the larger man’s threats. “You guys should join us.”

Ada followed Libertus and the rest in silence. Iris was walking next to her telling her how much she loved to see her fighting and she wanted to learn to fight like that which earned her a disapproving look from Gladio but Ada just winked at the girl.

They didn’t go back to the canteen, but one of the calmer places in town. She hasn’t been there, but for her surprise she saw there were some tables and chairs left. Probably there used to be a restaurant around here or something.

“You are finally here.” A very well-dressed man was standing next to one of the tables, with few baskets which Ada hoped were filled with food.

“Iggy you should have been there to see Gladio getting his as kicked.” Prompto seemed way to happy by the fact his friend lost the fight.

“Even if I was there I can’t exactly see it, Prom.” Just now Ada noticed his eyes. He was wearing glasses but that wasn’t unusual so it didn’t raise her suspicion, but under the glasses she could see heavily scared tissue. “Help me with the food.”

The blond man seemed a bit ashamed of what he said and without protesting helped setting the table. Iris proceeded to introduce the two guys Ada didn’t know. Ignis and Prompto turned out to be two of the prince’s retainers. They had just arrived in Lestallum and were helping with the rebuilding efforts.

“You should open a restaurant.” Ada said as soon as she tried the food. “Honestly that is the best thing I have eaten in my life.”

“I second that.” Prompto added. “There is so much free space around Lestallum now, people will love to try your food!”

“And will be good for moral.” Libertus added.

“It would be hard to find the ingredients.” Ignis objected but nobody else was buying it.

“Make it exclusive! Ignis’ special for the day.” Gladio suggested. “Only the best meats and spices brought to you by the hunters and cooked by chef Ignis. That should be your tag line.”

“It’s too long for a tag line.” Ignis corrected him.

Gladio proceeded to offer even more ridiculous tag lines which the other man just denied.

“Libertus.” Ada turned towards her fellow glaive. “Do you know where I can fix my phone?” she pulled the device from her pocket and showed it to the man.

“I can fix it!” Promto said and pulled the phone from her hand. Ada just stared at the blond as he started dissembling the phone and looking at various parts inside. Couple of minutes later he put it back together and turned it on.

“How did you…” Ada had tried everything she could in order to get it up and running, but she never could. The phone vibrated as all the missed calls and text messages started arriving.

“Hey who are these guys?” Prompto smiled showing her the home screen of her phone. It was an old picture of Ada with Luche, Nyx and Crowe. She opened her mouth to say something but couldn’t.

“Hey didn’t I take this one, when Crowe almost killed me?” Libertus managed to come to her rescue and Ada was once again surprised how much he had changed. He had grown up, he was dealing with things.

“Yeah it was after you and Nyx made that dating site profile for her.” They both laughed.

“Wish I knew she had dating site profile.” Gladio was looking at the picture since everyone was occupied with that now. Libertus gave him a slightly angry look and Ada had to hold her laughter. Crowe would have smacked both of them.

“It was a game we used to play.” Libertus explained. “We would steal each other’s phone and make absolutely ridiculous dating profiles. Crowe almost killed me when we did one for her. In my defense I just had lunch and I couldn’t wrap very fast.”

Ada laughed almost with tears, remembering Libertus and Nyx screaming and wrapping and Crowe shouting after them. Those were good memories. Bitter sweet right now, but she preferred to remember her friends laughing rather than dying.

“Nyx,” Ada pointed at him on the picture since technically only she and Libertus knew who Nyx was, “He stole the captain’s phone and created a profile. It had few hits, but then that guy” she pointed at Luche “Changed it to something of the sort the captain can do anything in under 2 minutes. The messages he started receiving were…terrible.”

“Nyx ended up cleaning shoes for a month and I was made to clean the locker rooms. Somehow Crowe didn’t get a punishment and Luche managed to get your ass out if it.” Libertus explained while laughing very hard. “Somehow Nyx and myself were the only people punished.”

“No that is not true. The captain created a profile for Tredd and honestly I think Tredd would have gladly cleaned shoes.” She wished she had screenshot of what the captain wrote because Tredd had been grumpy for a week after that. It was so hard to believe the Captain was General Glauca given how he treated them.

It was strange feeling, one that she had forgotten completely. Yes, Crowe, Nyx and Luche were gone, one of them probably deserving, but she didn’t feel sad for first time in months. There was nostalgia and she missed them all more than anything, but maybe she had started to move on. She had to find the Marshal to thank him one for the advice and two for setting her up to train with Gladio since none of that would have happened if it wasn’t for Cor the Immortal.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ada gets a pleasant surprise from the Marshal, however going through her text messages ruins the mood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter is a bit a mess. It went out of hand half way through it and there was MASSIVE piece of dialogue that was removed because it made no sense whatsoever. Then again in the middle of it the idea of the whole chapter changed. We are slowly getting to the point where Cor will appear more often (yey). 
> 
> Thank you for reading guys. Comments and kudos are more than appreciated. Check out my tumblr: http://the-immortal-marshal.tumblr.com or if you feel like you can feed my coffee addiction at: [Ko-Fi](http://ko-fi.com/aliaturin)

As soon as Ada heard the Marshal is back Ada went to pay him a visit. The past two days have been rather refreshing. She still had nightmares and trouble sleeping but it wasn’t as bad, at least she wasn’t waking up freaking out and needing to scream. The prince’s retainers have helped a lot in that as well. She spent a lot of time training with Gladio and Prompto which made her feel as if she had friends again. Libertus of course was also around but officially or not he had become the head of the Kingsglaive, or whatever was left of them, he had far less time to just sit around and practice.

The Marshal wasn’t in his office and while waiting for him Ada went through her phone’s text messages. Ever since her phone was back to life she was avoiding to look at it afraid that remembering the life she had before will send her back into that terrible abyss she has been living in for the past months. On the other hand, facing your fears was how you fought them and she had convinced herself to do so.

She started going through her messages with Crowe. The last message they exchanged was before Crowe had left for her last mission.

_Crowe: I have the feeling I will hate that mission._

_Ada: ??_

_Crowe: Cannot send you details over phone, talk with Nyx or Libertus, but I feel like they should have send somebody else._

_Ada: You will be there and back in no time!_

That was the last time she spoke with her and it felt a bit strange. Knowing what she knew now, she wished there was a way to prevent everything from happening. Credit where was due the captain knew his people. He must have known that Crowe would never betray the crown so it was easy to get rid of her before everything started. Ada scrolled a bit up and there was a picture of Libertus which Crowe had send her. He was drunk sleeping on a table, she saved the picture on her phone to show it to Libertus or use it against him depending on the circumstances.

Next were her messages with Nyx.

_Nyx: Don’t tell that to anyone, but the princess is hot!_

_Ada: aren’t you supposed to guard her?_

_Nyx: I’m, it involves keeping my eyes on her. All. The. Time._

_Ada: She is almost married you know?_

_Nyx: A minor formality. She is coming ttyl._

Ada wondered if the princess would have felt the same way about Nyx and she decided the answer was yes. Why not, he was handsome, well-mannered when he wanted to be and she had seen him how he threats ladies so if things had developed differently the young prince might have had some competition.

Reading these messages felt bitter sweet but also strange. She felt as if it wasn’t her writing them. She felt she was a different person now, less naïve and sadder. She could remember the feelings associated with them. Laughing so laud when Nyx told her about the princess and looking forward to see how his crush will develop. It all seemed so innocent and turned out so wrong.

The last group of messages was from Luche. Her attention was caught by the last message. ‘ _Call me when you wake up. We can talk again without fighting and maybe leave for Galahd. I hope your head is okay._ ’ The message was send on the day the treaty was supposed to be signed and probably couple of hours before the king was killed.  Eben weirder according to her phone she had read the message before, but she had absolutely no recollection of doing so.

Ada scrolled very quick through the other messages in case it was an old message that due to a glitch had switched dates, but it wasn’t. It didn’t even make sense to be considering the context. She checked the message two more times as if the words will magically change.

The fact that the message was read was the easiest part to explain. Probably as she was coming to her senses, reached for her phone and marked the message as read not entirely sure what she was doing. Between waking up and finding her way out of the city she had massive memory gaps so marking something as read or even reading it and forgetting about it wasn’t surprising.

The message itself. Assuming it wasn’t a phone bug and the chronology of the message was right, which seemed correct…he knew she was alive. He didn’t fail to kill her, he didn’t make a mistake. He knew she was alive. He left her alive. Ada could feel anger growing in her which was new. So far, she had felt only regret and pain towards him, but the anger that she was feeling now made her feel sorry for the fact he had died, since she wanted to personally set him on fire now.  

“I hope your head is okay.” She read it aloud, almost shouting. “It hurt for a month you tonberry shit!”

“I have been called worse.” A familiar voice came from behind her and Ada’s heart skipped a beat. She turned around to see the Marshal just walking in the hotel.

“I meant the phone. The person in my phone.” She was angry and trying to cover that anger lead her brain to completely switch off and act like an idiot.

To his credit Cor wasn’t laughing or anything but she could see it in his eyes. He was enjoying that internally.

“Can we start again?” she sighed deciding that is easy than to explain what she meant by ‘person in my phone’.

Now he finally smiled and made hand gesture inviting her to follow him to his office.

“How was your trip?” she started with casual conversation since her mind was still screaming for Luche’s skin and it wasn’t in the romantic way.

“I thought I have a trace on the prince but was nothing.” Finding the prince has turned something like an obsession for Cor. He was gone and they all expected he should literary pop somewhere, but it has been months now and there was no trace of him.

“I’m sorry.” She realized how pathetic that sounded only after she said it. Ada had decided that there will be no more of that regret business, or at least not to the level she had dragged herself.

“We will find him sooner or later, I’d rather have it sooner.” He sat on his chair and pointed toward another chair for her but Ada just shook her head. She needed to stand.

“I actually came to thank you. You have been very kind to me and you have no reason to be so toward a glaive.” She absolutely didn’t want to be here talk about that. All she needed was to be outside of the city walls killing something.

“I told you my trust towards the glaive is work in progress. You, Libertus and few others have helped this place a lot for a very short period of time. I’m still having some doubts regarding using the glaive, but can also admit that some glaives deserve my trust.”

“Still, you gave me sound advice that I am trying to follow as best as I can, and you did set me up to meet Gladio and the rest which was actually very positive experience.” Even if she knew that probably she will never have such close friendship as she used to have, it was nice to be able to relax with someone and talk about all kind of irrelevant things.

“I’m glad it worked.” He gave her a brief smile and she realized just now that it wasn’t often to see him smile. His face usually lacked expression, it was always his eyes that betrayed his thoughts and feelings.

“I actually wanted to ask something else. Can we open a restaurant in Lestallum?”

“A restaurant?” he seemed confused.

“One of the prince’s retainers can save the world with his food” Just remembering Ignis’ food made her hungry.

“Ignis.” He remarked.

“Yes. You said it’s all about rebuilding the kingdom and I know big part of it is finding the prince but we lack a prince right now so…restaurants and bars are normal places where people relax. If we are to rebuilt we need to go back to ‘normal’ whatever normal might mean in the current situation.” Interesting talking with him about what could be done for Lestallum and what they could work for made her anger ease a bit. Her thoughts were still all over the place, but looking forward to something seemed to be the key.

“As much as I agree with what you are saying, we are still low on power and there are at least ten outposts which I would like powered by the end of the week.”

“Fine I will do it.” She didn’t even think about it when she answered.

Cor didn’t answer at first just stared at her for a while probably trying to figure out if she was insane.

“Few days ago, you barely stood on your feet, now you want to lit half the continent over a restaurant.” His eyes narrowed as if he was looking or some sort of trick.

“First of all, it’s very good food, best I ever had, second what do you want me to do? I am most useful outside the walls, the kingsglaive have fought more battles than almost anyone around, not counting you.” Ada almost felt like her old self, confident, knowing what she wanted and finding ways to get there.

The Marshal didn’t answer immediately he thought for a while. She wondered why was so hard for him to make a decision, it wasn’t even that she was asking him to look for the prince, she knew that was off limit for glaives.

“You take care of all these outposts by the end of the week, plus additional power to be able to light the restaurant.” He finally said.

“Deal.” She eagerly agreed.

“Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night?” his question caught her off guard, not just because of its content but because it was related to nothing they talked about.

“Dinner?” Ada repeated. “With you? Dinner like date?” only when she said the word date she realized that was a bit too presumptuous.

“Yes, a date.” He laughed which didn’t make her feel any better about the whole situation. What do you say when the Marshal asks you on a date?

“Can I think about it?” That probably wasn’t the right answer, but… _what the hell_?

“Of course, you can. It’s fine you want to say no, I won’t take it personal.”

“Right.” Part of her wanted to say yes, just right here on the spot, no thinking needed, but at the back of her head there was a little voice screaming that it’s terrible idea and in fact she should just pack her things and leave.

 

She found Libertus helping Iris unload some delivery that group of hunters have found. Ada gave them a hand, she was kind of hoping she can get fist dips on whatever was in the boxes before half of Lestallum comes here to claim whatever they liked.

“Have some good news.” She said grabbing one of the boxes. “You remember how we spoke about helping Ignis open a restaurant?” Iris nodded, Ada could already see the excitement in her eyes. “Well, the Marshal said yes.”

“We have to tell Iggy!” Iris jumped and almost dropped the box she was carrying.

“Well, the Marshal had couple of conditions that I need to take care of, and I will probably need help from your brother, but by the end of the week things might be in motion.”

“What did Cor ask for?” Iris wasn’t moving boxes anymore she was way too excited.

“He is worried something non-essential as a restaurant might be bad for the power supply and naturally he doesn’t want to do it if that would mean less outposts so…” she was still fighting the urge to leave all that and just disappear.

“I can help you!” Iris volunteered but Ada shook her head.

“Your brother is already giving me trouble for training you. He is worried that next thing you will run after me on hunts. I had to swear in everything that exists on this star that it is for self-protection, and he approved of that. I’m not getting on your brother’s bad side.” Gladio was good brother of course he didn’t want his sister to get hurt hence the self-protection part had won him over since he didn’t have the time to do it himself.

The girl was disappointed, but Gladio or no, Ada wouldn’t have taken her anyway. She was way stronger than she looked and Ada didn’t doubt she would be able to stand her ground in a fight, but Iris reminded her of herself, before joining the Kingsglaive, and consciously or not she wanted to protect her from everything the world outside could throw at her.

 _‘Just like Crowe did with me when I first joined the Glaive.’_ That thought made her suddenly feel very lonely.

When they finished unloading the boxes Ada and Libertus went through them like children when given their birthday presents. Being with the Glaive was like having siblings, but a lot of siblings, many of which are not afraid to elbow you in the face in order to get something that was supposed to be for ‘everybody’. Mastering the skill of being fast and first when you wanted something was essential. They both found clothes and other items that wanted and Iris was kind enough to give them huge discount, which was lucky for Ada since money wasn’t somethings he had.

“Help me hang these.” She had managed to find a long piece of fabric which could be used as curtain. It was going to make her so called apartment a bit nicer and wouldn’t look like a box.

“I love what you have done with the place.” Libertus joked as he walked in her mostly empty accommodations.

“I’m trying.” She smiled but thought that this apartment reflected her own mental state very fittingly. It was gloomy and empty, and now these ‘curtains’ were going to be the first item making it a bit homier, but there was still long way to go.

After they were done with the curtains she asked him to stay.

“Have to tell you something. I think the Marshal asked me out.” She didn’t really look him in the eyes because she was still conflicted if she was happy about it or honestly terrified. Probably both.

“He what?” Libertus shouted very loud and Ada made a sign with finger to lower his voice. “He what?” he repeated a bit quieter.

“When I asked him about the restaurant and all, at the end he asked me if I want to have dinner with him.” She was excited, she was very excited but why by the Astrals she wasn’t happy.

“And you said…”

“I said I will think about it.” She looked at him with apologetic face.

“Why? What’s wrong with him?” Libertus was staring at her as if she had lost her mind, which probably she did.

“It’s not him. He is perfect.” Ada stopped for a second realizing what she said, but he was perfect. “It’s me. Why me? There are so many other women. And…I’m scared.”

“Stop right there.” Libertus sounded as serious as he could.  “Look at yourself. Have you seen that face? The hair, the eyes…you are cute. He is not blind. You happen to be also a decent human being even if you forget about that very often. Tell him yes. Don’t be scared, scared of what? He won’t leave you for death on his floor.”

“There is something else. Something that threw me overboard before he even asked me.” Ada pulled her phone and showed him the message she found from Luche. “I was going through old pictures and messages today and found that. It said it was read but I don’t remember reading it. That doesn’t bother me, it bothers me the fact that he actually didn’t want to kill me.”

 “So, what? That doesn’t redeem him.” Libertus was getting angry and she thought it probably wasn’t so wise to show him that, but he was her only friend here. Close friend.

“It’s not that. There isn’t a thing that could redeem him and I have not forgiven him what he did…it was so much easier to hate him when I thought he betrayed everything, myself included. I spent one year feeling guilty because I couldn’t stop him, because I couldn’t prevent Crowe’s death…I felt guilty that I was alive, but now I feel guilty because it was some misguided mercy that kept me alive. He could have shown mercy to Crowe and a lot of other people who deserve it more than I do.”

“Ada, you should stop.” Libertus grabbed her hand. “The only people who deserve to be dead are Luche, the captain and everyone else who followed them. You made the right choice.” Libertus was emphasizing on every word as if she was a little child not fully understanding.

“I know. And I don’t. I had started getting better and that message just…I want to move on but how do I move on?” she was back to square one, lost.

“By going out with the Marshal.” Libertus chuckled. “Come on, you don’t need to marry him, it’s just one night of eating and drinking. In my opinion your dating history is terrible so that would be an improvement.”

Ada punched his shoulder teasingly and laughed.

“So about the Marshal…do you like him? I mean he is totally your type. Handsome, position of command, jawline….” Libertus was chuckling.

“I guess.” That was complicated question. “He has been kind to me even if he has no reason to be. Plus, he is a very attractive man.”

“And the chance of him killing you because you refuse to join his treacherous plot is zero.” He was still laughing.

“Thank you Libertus I will have that in mind.” She laughed with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment or kudo (could be even on tumblr), it keeps me writing.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Marshal and Ada finally go on their date, things turn out better than expected, I am still shit at writing summaries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is NSFW. The NSFW part is around the middle so if you don't feel like reading that, please skip and carry one with the things before and after, there is some minor story development.
> 
> Thank you for reading guys. Comments and kudos are more than appreciated. Check out my tumblr: http://the-immortal-marshal.tumblr.com or if you feel like you can feed my coffee addiction at: [Ko-Fi](http://ko-fi.com/aliaturin)

 

Here she was again in front of the Marshal’s office. She had agreed to his dinner – date, and now was waiting for him. In fact, she would have already walked in, if it wasn’t for the voices she heard coming from inside. Ada could barely hear Cor, or make up the words in this conversation. Occasionally she could hear ‘yes’ or ‘no’ coming from the Marshal, but the other voice, which sounded like old man nagging, was doing most of the talking.

“You will never learn, Cor.” The old man opened the office door in anger, and Ada could see the old man. That was Cid, Iris had shown her his workshop. The Marshal was leaning on his desk, staring completely blank at the man.

“Bad time?” Ada waited for Cid to walk out and invited herself in.

“There doesn’t seem to be such thing as good time.”  Cor looked tired, not physically but as if his mind was way too weary. “He just treats everyone as if they are twelve.”

“We can cancel tonight?” She didn’t like the thought since she spent most of her afternoon preparing mentally, but also didn’t want to be bother.

“No, I need the distraction.” He grabbed his jacket and walked with her out of the office. “We need to stop at the hotel’s kitchen, Monica has prepared something for us.”

“Monica?” suddenly she got worries that someone else knew about their so-called date. Not that it was a secret or she wanted to keep it a secret, she had already told Libertus, but the idea that Cor had told anybody just sent wave of anxiety through her spine.

“Yeah I have no mind for stuff like that. She is my friend, assistant and and brain when needed.” He opened the kitchen door for her. Ada waited for him to walk to one of the counters and picked up a big plate cover with foil. “Let’s go.”

She didn’t ask where just followed him in silence, her heart beating faster than it should.

_‘What’s wrong with me, it’s just dinner.’_

Cor on the other hand looked himself. Calm, not showing much emotions. Eventually he led her to the roof of the hotel, which Ada thought at some point might have been a romantic spot being allowing you to see the stars, but now the sky was dark and the only light was coming from the city below them.

“We should be undisturbed here. It’s my favourite spot when I want to think in peace.” He explained and sat on the ground. Ada followed him, her heart still trying to break a hole in her ribcage.

_‘I have faced demons and remained calmer.’_

He opened whatever Monica had prepared and both made disgusting sound at the same time. The dish was literary a tentacle on a plate.

“It’s probably not that bad…” Ada decided to be brave and try it, grabbing one of the forks Cor had brought. It wasn’t that bad, but if she had a choice, she would have eaten something else.

Ignoring most of the questionable dish they spent the first hour or so talking about very general stuff. Weapons, magic, demons, how were stuff in Lestallum. Nothing specific and nothing personal. Ada wanted to learn more about him, about the man he was not just what everybody knew, Cor the Immortal, but that meant she probably had to open up herself which was the real danger. There were things she wasn’t sure she could explain if she was asked about and she certainly didn’t feel like lying to him.

“Tell me something.” He started after they decided they will never again ask Monica for culinary help. “Why did you join the glaive?”

“Seemed like the right thing?” she realized that’s not much of an answer, a bit of personal information wasn’t going to hurt anyone. “My family moved out of Galahd when I was fourteen. We travelled around for couple of years until eventually we ended in Insomnia. When I was eighteen someone spotted I had talent for magic, passed the whole recruitment and basic training process and at nineteen I was one of the glaives.”

“That’s terribly young.” He sounded impressed which stroke her ego.

“You were fifteen when you joined the Crownsguard, I was old compared to you.” Ada realized she has been staring at his eyes, not just looking but staring, and damn even in the dark they were bright blue.

“I was a brat prone to mischief with no talents but the talent to kill. You on the other hand are pretty, you have a good heart and you are not stupid.”

“That’s not true.” She liked the compliment but instead of saying thank you she just deflected it. “People love you, Marshal. You served two kings and a prince, you sat with them on council meetings you led people in battle and they loved you. That’s more than just talent for killing.”

“Don’t call me Marshal, my name is Cor.” He said that almost as if he was giving her an order. “And I might have counseled two kings and a prince, but two of them are death and the last one is missing. I’m not doing a great job.”

“You are doing better than any of us.” She wanted to reach and touch him, but somehow felt too intimidated to do it. Was it even appropriate to do it? Maybe too soon?

“Do you have any family left?” he changed the topic very quickly and Ada decided not to push. Better than anyone she understood that there were things that were difficult to talk about.

“Libertus.” Ada laughed. “My mother died before we moved to Insomnia, my father shortly after I joined the glaive. I had a brother but for some reason we fell out after I joined the glaive. He also passed away, shortly after my father. The Kingsglaive became my family. Made the loss of my real family significantly easier if that even could be the right word. Libertus is the closest thing I have to a family.” On the other hand, losing the glaive had destroyed her.

“I can relate to that.” Again, no expression on his face. Ada was sure she was doing something wrong.

“Tell me something nobody knows about you Ma..Cor.” she smiled as she corrected herself.

“I’m terrible at dates.” He smiled and Ada could feel herself skipping a breath at how handsome his face was with smile on his lips. “Regis and Clarus always used to make fun of me when I would go and ask them for advice. Clarus used to say that I can master any weapon in matter of hours but cannot master that ‘feelings’ thing. Thirty years later, he is still right.”

“You asked me out, it cannot be that bad.” He sounded so different talking about the king and his shield. There was nostalgia, pain and happiness in his voice at the same time.

“I know how to ask people out, I know how to make my assistant cook terrible dinner, I have another trick or two that I still haven’t pulled out of my sleeves, but somehow it all ends as one big disappointment eventually.”

“Let me guess, you are terrible at saying what you feel and have the tendency of surprising emotions.” She said it lightly enough so it would sound partially as joke but she was serious.

“Have we met before?” and there it was, genuine smile. And what a smile! Ada wanted to smile with him, but she just couldn’t. She was looking at him and remembering what Libertus told her.

 _‘He is perfect._ ’

“It was just a guess.” Technically it wasn’t just a guess but something she could relate to now. A year ago, she wouldn’t even be able to imagine something like that for herself, now she understood what he meant. “Now I know your secret.”

 “Now you need to tell me something of equal value.” Just in these past couple of minutes both of them have moved closer to each other without even realizing. If she moved an inch she could touch him.

“I don’t have anything of equal value…”

“That’s a lie.”  He leaned closer towards her. “Come on, could be even some silly childish mischief.”

There were of course of number of things she could tell him, but she was worried where that might lead. She had decided that everything Luche related will be off topic tonight unless for some reason Cor led the conversation there, she didn’t need to fall in a grim mood today.

“Fine.” She decided she was going to be completely honest with him even if that was going to ruin everything. “I have been terrified about today and that’s why I told you I needed time to think. I wanted to say yes the moment you asked me out, but part of me was terrified, I have been on my own, in every sense, for a year now, and just the thought of spending time with someone and being close to someone terrified me.”

“Two people having issues with their emotions going out on a date.” He smirked. “That is like the beginning of one of these romance novels Gladio constantly reads.”

“He reads romance novels?” Ada almost shouted in surprise. “He doesn’t look the type.”

“Where do you think he gets all his pick-up lines from?” for a second Ada thought the Marshal was serious about the pick-up lines, but just looking at his eyes made her realize he was joking even if his face was still completely serious.

At that time the guards at the wall changed and both of them realized it was getting pretty late. They decided to call it a night since Cor had to go out of town in the morning and Ada still had to work on getting more power for the outposts in order to have enough for Ignis’ restaurant.

“Thank you for not being too terrified and agreeing to spend some time with me.” He gave her a warm smile which made her legs feel extremely weak.

“Thank you for making time for me, even if you are probable the busiest person in Lestallum.” She responded but in fact all she wanted was to kiss him.

“You are the prettiest thing around, I’m known to have many issues, missing my chances is not one of them.” He smirked and she realized she was lost.

‘Fuck it.’ She had to step on her toes in order to be tall enough to reach his lips, but doing that also helped her get closer to him. It wasn’t the best kiss she had ever given, it was quick, just pressing her lips against his, but it was certainly better than nothing. Once she pulled away and opened her eyes he was staring at her, and for parts of the second she thought she messed up and that it was a mistake.

Cor, however, proved her wrong very quickly, not leaving her too long to wonder what was happening.

He leaned forward and kissed her, but this time was different, one of his hands was quickly placed on her lower back and the other reached for her chin pulling it down gently to open her mouth for his tongue. He was a good kisser, she gave him that, the way his tongue caressed hers made her moan and wanting more of him.

“That one of the ticks up your sleeves?” she asked him when he pulled his mouth away for both of them to take a breath, his hand was still holding her lower back, his body leaning over her making her feel even smaller.

“That would remain a secret.” He smiled and kissed her again, making a step forward which made Ada step backwards. Then another step followed, and another one, his mouth moved to her neck, his arms wrapped around her holding her firm, almost carrying her. He finally stopped as her butt hit something, it was the desk in his office. They were both breathing heavy and looking at each other.

“You should probably close the door.” Ada finally told him realizing she wanted him right now more than anything.

Cor didn’t need more clarifications on what or how to do it. He made a very small step back, kicking the door shut and taking his jacket off at the same time. He was back to her, his hands at her ass, lifting her up and placing her on the desk. Ada ran her hands under his shirt, feeling the muscles on his back. The Marshal pulled his arms away from her for a second allowing her to pull his top, only for her to realize that wasn’t one top but three.

“How many…” but before she could finish her sentence her eyes had stopped on his body. He was perfect. She could see every muscle on his upper body, lean and clearly defined his skin was covered in scars but that was just adding to his charm. She ran her fingers down his chest, touching his abs and stopping at the belt of his pants. Has breathing heavy making it difficult for her to think about anything else but his body on top of hers. He grabbed her hand in his just as she was about to undo his belt, kissing her fingers.

“Not so fast.” He pushed her on his desk, leaning over her giving her a soft kiss on the lips but then quickly moved down. He pulled her shirt up and kissed her belly, slowly moving up, his hands touching the sides of her body while pushing her top all the way over her head. Once that was gone his lips moved to her breasts, kissing the skin just where her bra was staring. For a second she panicked, the scar over her collarbones was within his sight, and true enough he probably had seen it as soon as he pulled her shirt off, but suddenly she had to fight the urge to just push him away and cover that part of her body.

It was all forgotten very quickly as he reached behind her and undid her bra with a swift move, throwing it somewhere in his office. His kisses continued, his lips moving to her nipple. She moaned loud, arching her body toward his, feeling the hardness in his pants. Cor didn’t seem fazed by any of that, he ran his hand down her body and as skillful as he had taken her bra off, unbuttoned her pants. Ada tried to do the same for him, even if from her position was a bit harder to reach for his belt, but he just grabbed her hands and pinned them over her head.

“I said not so fast.” He whispered in her ear and placed a kiss on her neck. His fingers had already found their way in her underwear and he was very slowly started rubbing on and around her nub. He had stopped with his kisses, but his face was almost touching hers, his eyes not moving away from hers. Ada knew she could lose herself in that pale blue storm that was his gaze.

He moved one finger inside her making her bite her lower lip and pushed her lower body towards him wanting him to do more. Cor had other intentions, he was going slowly and he was so damn good at that. With every with every measured move of his hand she could feel herself getting wetter than she even thought possible, her legs wrapped around his pulling him closer wanting to feel every part of him on her skin. Cor pushed second finger in her making her moan louder. She suddenly realized they might not be alone around and attempted to pull one of her hands to silence the sounds she was making but he was still holding them firm over her head. His other hand was moving faster making her body arch and twist under him, the moans coming from her mouth were harder to control.

“Marshal…” She whispered between heavy breaths feeling herself being very close to coming.

“My name is Cor.” Just as she was sure that would be it he pulled his hand away from her making her stare at him in confusion. He let go of her hands so he could undo his belt, Ada just watched him admiring his body and subconsciously memorizing every little detail.

He might have been very slowly and patient with teasing her earlier, but he got rid of his pants and underwear with incredible speed. Soon he was on top of her again kissing her lips and slowly pushing in her.

“You are terrible tease.” She smiled between kisses, feeling his length going deeper and deeper in her.

“I just like taking my time.” As soon as he said that he pushed in her harder, making her almost scream from pleasure.

Similar to his previous actions he started very slowly, looking her in the eyes and caressing her face with his fingers. He was gentle in a way that surprised her. He had the reputation of a hard man but right now he was gentle, loving and attentive.

As he picked up the pace he moved one hand between her legs and starred rubbing where she was feeling most sensitive. Ada almost screamed feeling his fingers there, but Cor kissed her passionately, pressing his hard chest against hers.

“Cor…” she bit her lower lip trying again not to scream but he was pushing faster and harder in her and his fingers were making her lose whatever little control she had over her body. He either didn’t hear her or pretended not to, since all he did was just look at her with a very alluring grin on his lips. Her fingers were digging into the skin of his back, her legs were wrapped around his urging him to go deeper into her. Couple more minutes and she could feel familiar pleasant sensation crawling through her body, her muscles contracting in pleasure, her mind absolutely blank but for the amazing feeling between her legs.

Somewhere within that mist of pleasure she heard him saying ‘fuck’ his controlled and rhythmic moves became more erethic and spontaneous until he finally came as well, his body almost limp on top of hers, his breathing heaving.

They both stood like that for few moments. Cor was still collecting himself, Ada was lazily running her fingers through the skin of his shoulder blades.   

Slowly he lifted himself up, his eyes still fixed on her.

“I can offer you a cold shower and a warm bed.” He pointed toward a door at the back which she assumed was leading to where his bedroom was.

Shower was quick and not very pleasant considering the water was freezing, but once they both dried themselves being in bed turned out to really compensate for it, Cor was lying on his back, his arm wrapped around her body, Ada’s head resting in his chest.

“Where did you got that?” the tip of his fingers traced the scar crossing her collarbones.

“A boyfriend.” She knew that question would come. It wasn’t a small scar and it has been in front of his eyes for most of the night.

“You don’t strike me as the type of girl who will let a guy do that.”

“It’s complicated.” How was she supposed to explain that? “I did try to kill him as well.”

“So, what happened?” he moved his fingers away from the scar at started caressing her shoulder.

“He…” she really didn’t want to talk about Luche, not now, but on the other hand he had to know. “He happened to be one of the glaives that betrayed the king. The glaive to start the thing, not taking the captain into consideration. He sent email to everyone pretty much saying how much he is done with the king and what he plans to do. I confronted him, we had verbal disagreement, it grew into physical disagreement. He almost killed me.”

“What happened with him.” To his credit Cor didn’t seem disturbed or angry at any of that. Part of Ada actually expected he would kick her out of his bed and Lestallum.

“I didn’t know for very long time, according to Libertus, he tried to put the ring of the king and died. I guess we all get what we deserve at the end.” Thing is she still wasn’t sure Luche got what he deserved. Sure, he betrayed the king and her, but was that worth his death. Then again Nyx certainly didn’t deserve to die either but here they were.  “Your scars make far better story I guess.” She smiled, and ran a finger through one of his scars close to his abdomen, it was a viscous looking reminder of a deep wound.

“Not as much. Most of them are courtesy of Gilgamesh. Some of them I even deserved.”

Sleep had come to her shortly after and she found herself in another dream, another memory that was surly going to be ruined by her mind.

_It was getting late, they were celebrating another victory and mourning their losses. Most of the Glaives had gone home with handful exceptions who were mostly sitting around the tables alone or in very small groups. Luche sat next to her, way too close. He was obviously drunk._

_“Come I will take you home, you cannot drive like that.” Ada tried to pull him up but instead he gripped her arm and prevented her from getting up._

_“Your hair reminds me of home” he completely ignored her and clumsily grabbed few locks between his fingers._

_“You are too drunk.” She tried to get up but he leaned against her._

_“You smell of home.” He insisted. “Like the sea and the woods.”_

_“Come on, I’m driving you home.” She finally managed to pull his limp body up. She had never seen him like that. Tipsy, yes, but never drunk to a degree where he seemed unaware of his surroundings._

_“You cannot drive me home, Galahd is too far away to drive me there now.”_

_“The other home.” She walked him out of the building and as expected at that point her dream went crazy. They were on the street in Insomnia, she couldn’t recall which street or where in Insomnia but she could swear it was there. Luche was standing in front f her, burning._

_“You should have followed me.” Even if his whole body was covered in flames, his clothes and armor melting into his skin, he didn’t seem in pain. Luche made step toward her and grabbed her wrist twisting it so hard she could hear it break, the flames started burning her and the pain was intolerable._

_“Please let me go” Ada tried to pull away but he was inhumanly strong. “Luche, please, let me go.”_

_“You betrayed me! I thought you will follow me, but you betrayed me for what? The Marshal? We could have gone back to Galahd together!” he pulled his gun with his free hand._

_“No, Luche, please..” the pain from the flames was getting too much, it was all over her arm and it was crawling toward her chest and face. “Please kill me.”_

_“No, you have to suffer.”_

 

She opened her eyes, staring into the darkness. Cor’s arm was wrapped around her body and she could feel his breath on her neck. She couldn’t fall asleep again and just spent the time thinking about her dreams and would they ever leave her in peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments are highly appreciated, they keep me writing.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So Cor finally learns from Gentiana where Noct is, three t-shirts joke makes cameo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading guys. Comments and kudos are more than appreciated. Check out my tumblr: http://the-immortal-marshal.tumblr.com or if you feel like you can feed my coffee addiction at: [Ko-Fi](http://ko-fi.com/aliaturin)

Ada was walking down the Lestallum streets, tired and absentminded. She had spent three days in the wastelands trying to find more meteor pieces and other resources they needed. She was also avoiding everyone especially the Marshal and Libertus hence her choice to spend all that time outside of Lestallum instead of returning.

“Did you hear?” her ears caught a conversation between two of the towns people. “Some black-haired witch told the Marshal to stop looking for the prince. Now he is calling off all the hunters and crownsguard. That’s some trick if you ask me and he fell right into the trap.”

Ada slowed down her pace to hear the whole thing and stared at the men until they noticed her and looked back at her. She quickly pretended she wasn’t listening to them, last thing she needed was another outburst of the townspeople against the treacherous glaive.

She had planned to go to her apartment, rest couple of hours and then leave again, but given that information she went looking for Libertus. She found him close to the barricades barking orders at some new recruits. Ada patiently waited for him to finish, she wasn’t getting in the middle of that.

“Well, well look who is back.” He gave her a warm hug as if he hasn’t seen her in months. “I was almost worried the Marshal killed you and hid your corpse somewhere.”

“I just wanted to get some things done.” It wasn’t technically a lie if there was some truth in it. Maybe a half lie.

“Right. You have a lot of things to tell me.” Libertus grabbed her and pulled her aside, in one of the tinny alleys where no one could hear them. “So, the Marshal?”

“That can wait. What’s that about black-haired witch and the prince?” Ada knew she wouldn’t be able to avoid talking about Cor with Libertus, but the other matter was more pressing in her mind.

“Don’t know much. I know the rumor which you have heard apparently. The other thing I know is that the Marshal suspended the search for the prince which caused a bit of drama from his highness’ retainers, but eventually they calmed down. Wanted to speak with the Marshal but Monica hinted it’s not a good time.”

Things were bad then if Gladio and the rest were involved in that. Part of Ada had hoped that was just some town’s talk, gossip and rumors but little to no truth. And what was all that about black-haired witch? Part of her was happy no one had started rumor of redheaded witch or she might be burning on a stake somewhere with all the love people around had for the Kingsglaive.

“I will check on him.” Ada tried to leave without talking any further with him but he grabbed her wrist.

“Oh, no you are not going now. You were absent for three days, not a single word where were you going and not even telling me how that date with the Marshal went.” Libertus moved so he could block her way out of there.

“I don’t know what to tell you it was good…it was fun and he is great…” She really didn’t know what else to tell him. The only person she ever talked with about dates and such was Crowe.

“Anything in particular…any details...” Libertus was acting like a teenager trying to get information from his buddies and that entrained her a lot. They all used to do that back in Insomnia, tease each other and make fun of each other. Sticking the nose in other’s personal business was just natural.  

“For some reason he wears three t-shirts.” She finally said, that was the most innocent things he could think about.

“Three t-shirts.” He lifted three fingers in front of her eyes. “So, you saw him naked or you just stopped at the second t-shirt?” he was laughing at that point.

“No, I saw him naked...” that was a childish conversation but somewhere deep in her she was enjoying it too much.

“And it was so bad that you ran out of town on extended vacation?” he was still laughing.

“No, it was…” that was hard to explain. “It was good. It was great, he is great. He is not the reason I have been avoiding everything.” Loneliness was an addiction and she has been walking for couple of weeks now on the that thin line that stood between shutting herself out and allowing people to walk in her life again. The Marshal had reminded her how good it was to finally be free of that isolation, but loneliness was a drug, one it was hard to get rid of.

“You need to move on.” Libertus wasn’t laughing anymore, he was his friendly, loving self. “I know how hard it is to move on, I waited for Nyx almost a year before I moved on, but you need to do it, or that will kill you.”

“I know.” She forced a smile on her lips and place her hand on his shoulder. “Thank you. You are a good friend.”

They parted ways like that, he still had things to do and she wanted to check on Cor. Probably it was just her imagination but whole Lestallum seemed strangely quit. People were usually busy with stuff or just hanging around but now it seemed like everybody was on their own, and minding their own business.

Ada walked in the hotel, Monica was hanging around by the reception.

“I would advice against…” she started but Ada gave her a friendly smile and continued walking towards the Marshal’s office at which the other woman just nodded.

She knocked once, there was no sound or anything coming from there so she just walked in. As soon as she saw the state of his office, she walked in quickly and closed the door behind herself. One of the bookshelves was pushed down, all the books and items that had been on it have fallen on the floor. The papers and maps from his desk were also on the ground, some of them ripped. The chair which was usually behind his desk was either kicked or thrown to the other end of the room. Cor was sitting on his desk, holding his right hand which was bleeding.

“What happened?” Ada rushed towards him and grabbed his hand, it didn’t seem too bad, the blood was coming from bruised knuckles.

“You are back.” He completely ignored her question and the state that his office was in.

“Let me look at that.” She ran her fingers gently over his skin until green light appeared around them. The spell acted immediately. Few seconds later the bruises on his hand were gone, only the dried blood was left.

“Thank you.” He moved his fingers, then clenched them in a fist and eventually relaxed them. “Doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Is that because of let me quote ‘a black-haired witch who told you to stop looking or the prince?” Ada wanted to hug him and tell him things would be okay, but she was guilty of disappearing without a trace so she was going to leave the first step in that regard to him.

“Black haired-witch?” He looked confused.

“It’s what the people around town say.”

“How…” he didn’t finish that sentence just gave a frustrated sigh. “It’s not a black-haired witch. It was the messenger of the gods. She told me to stop looking for the prince, and that when the time is right he will appear at Angelgard. That it is not up to me or anyone else, I assume she means his friends, to find him, but he will come when he is ready.” She could feel the anger in him as he was saying that. Then he continued without Ada asking him anything which was surpassing. “I have served three kings, and I failed each one of them in a different way. Cor the Immortal.” He smirked. “More like Cor the Unable.”

“You are blaming yourself for too much.” She reached for the hand she had just healed and held it in hers.

“Am I? According to everyone I’m the most skillful swordsman, deadliest man on the star. My skills are nothing if I cannot use them in protection of my king.” He said all that with his eyes fix fixed somewhere in the distance but not at her.

“Look at me.” She lifted his chin and forced him to look her in the eyes. “Your duty is not just to your king. That’s part of your duty, as it is part of mine. King or no king you still have duty toward his kingdom and the people who live in it. The prince is not dead. He will be back, if the messenger of the gods says he will be back, it will happen. You can sit here and destroy the whole hotel in anger, or do something useful. Didn’t you tell me something like that few weeks ago?”

They stood like that for a while, his eyes pinned on hers. 

“I’m terrible at following my own advice.” He finally said.

“Then follow mine.” She moved her hand to his chest, placing it just over his heart. “The prince will be back. It’s up to you if he will be back to a graveyard filled with demons, or to something that reminds civilization.”

“Thank you. I needed that.” He kissed her forehead.

“Plus, the list of people to blame for the current situation is very long and you are not even on top of it. I believe even I am head of you.” She smiled, hoping that this stupid joke will change the mood in the room a bit.   

“Let’s not make a competition out of that, I have been around longer than you and I might be able to come up with few more points.” He moved his hands on her waist pulling her closer to him. “Would you stay tonight with me?”

“I…” she started and then closed her mouth. Nervously she bit her lips and realized that answer was taking her longer than it should. “I will stay. I will also help you clean that mess here.”

 

_“He likes you” Crowe elbowed her and Ada almost spit her beer in the other woman’s face._

_“Who?”_

_“Luche! Come on haven’t you noticed the way he looks at you?” Crowe literary pointed at the four guys playing billiard. “He is imagining you naked every time he turns his head that way.”_

_“Bull. Shit.” Ada drank from the bottle. In all fairness she didn’t mind seeing him naked. “He might be imagining you naked.”_

_“He looks at me as ‘one of the guys’, that certainly is not ‘one of the guys’ look.”_

_Ada attempted to say something but then Nyx came to their table and interrupted her._

_“Hey Pelna and Axis are leaving and we need two players, want to join?”_

_“I don’t know how to play.” Ada said which made Crowe and Nyx stare at her._

_“You have never played billiard?” Nyx finally asked looking for conformation if he heard right._

_“Well…you know we don’t have that in Galahd….” She stared making an excuse._

_“Okay we need to teach you.” Crowe pulled her up grabbing both of their beers._

_“Luche, why you never taught her how to play billard?” Nyx shouted at the other man._

_The other man just shrugged but threw a one of the billiard sticks at Ada._

_“There is first time for everything.” He had already arranged the balls on the pool table in a neat triangle. “I’ll play with her, I’m better than the two of you combined anyway.”_

_Nyx and Crowe snorted loudly in disagreement at the exact same time. Luche started explaining the rules, but she remembered very little of what he said. Every time her eyes fell on his, she wondered if what Crowe had said was true._

_“Okay bend down.” She followed the instruction bending over the table. He came just behind her, helping her place the stick correctly. “Now you need to hit them hard but not too hard.”_

_Ada followed the instruction but as soon as the she aimed the room went completely dark. That wasn’t right, that wasn’t how things worked out, that…_

_…dim light came on and she saw Luche standing in front of her, the pool table was gone, gun pointed at Crowe’s head._

_“She deserved it.” Those were the exact same words he had told her that night when they fought._

_“Don’t do it, she was your friend!” Ada screamed._

_Luche just shrugged and pulled the trigger, Crowe’s blood and brains flying all over the place._

 

Ada opened her eyes the mental image of gore still appearing in her mind even after she was awake. She could feel Cor’s rhythmic breathing behind her, at least one of them was getting some sleep. Carefully she sneaked out of the bed and gathered her clothing from the floor. She needed some fresh air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments are highly appreciated.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gladio is busy so Ada has the chance to practice with Ignis and share some thoughts on what had happened up till now (mainly Altissia)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are some small spoilers for episode Ignis. In fact if you have seen the trailer for the DLC probably nothing will be soiled for you guys, but I still have to warn you. Don't want to ruin anybody's fun. 
> 
> Thank you for reading guys. Comments and kudos are more than appreciated. Check out my tumblr: http://the-immortal-marshal.tumblr.com or if you feel like you can feed my coffee addiction at: [Ko-Fi](http://ko-fi.com/aliaturin)

Ada was at the bridge waiting for Gladio for their usual early morning work-out. She had spent the rest of the night on the wall taking over someone else’s duties. The hunters could use some rest and she couldn’t sleep anyway. She had yet again abandoned the Marshal in the middle of his sleep but she was struggling with how to deal with him. Of course, the problem wasn’t Cor, the problem was in her and she knew that sooner or later he would get bored of her bullshit and just tell her to leave him alone. Maybe subconsciously that was what she was trying to do? Maybe she was so scared of getting close to another human being that’s he was sabotaging herself.

“I’m afraid Gladio is busy this morning.” Ada turned around to see Ignis standing almost behind her. How on earth didn’t she hear him? “But if you want I can spar with you, it has been a while since I have had any sort of training.”

“But you are…” Ada was going to say ‘blind’ but stopped herself. How do you point that out without sounding like absolutely bitch?

“Blind?” the man suggested. “It is inconvenient but I have learned to find my way around it.”

She looked at him, glad that he cannot see the doubt covering her face. On one hand she was curious. She knew he lost his sight in Altissia but continued to follow the Prince long after, and the Prince’s journey certainly was eventful. Ignis had found his way around it, literary, but she still wasn’t sure she wanted to be the person who set the helpless retainer on fire.

“Okay…” she finally said. “But I won’t hold back.”

“I would be disappointed if you do.” He made a step back and adjusted one of his gloves.

Just now Ada realized she knew nothing about how he fights. Gladio was a powerhouse and that was his weakness as well. Prompto was their gun guy but physically he was easy to win over even for someone as small as she was. She has never seen Ignis fight.

She started casting a spell but before she finished there was a snowstorm around her and she knew it wasn’t hers.

‘That’s my trick…’ Ada thought but before she could even decide what to do Ignis appeared out of nowhere and swing at her with iced dagger. She had to wrap in the last possible second in order to avoid the hit. A very accurate hit which was going to end in her chest if she didn’t wrap. It was hard to admit but it wasn’t skill that saved her ass, it was pure instinct.

The storm was beginning to pass and she could see him, slowly but confidently walking toward her. She wrapped behind him, her dagger aiming for the back of his neck, but he somehow avoided that. She followed with series of knife attacks and wraps, but he was avoiding all of them. Casting her favourite snowstorm was going to be useless, he couldn’t see anyway, it was only her line of sight that was going to be affected. That exchange continued for a while, he was blocking or just evading every single attack she was making and even she managed to trip him few times he would always roll away just before the final blow. He cast a snowstorm again and Ada could feel her patients disappearing. She rushed towards him in all or nothing attack and it turned out to be nothing. She could barely see him, and he turned out to be closer than she thought. He tripped her, Ada fell hard, hitting her head in the cold ground. She tried to wrap but his cold dagger was pressed against her throat.

“I believe that’s my win.” She could see the man smiling and she smiled back even if she was sure he couldn’t see that.

“Well fought.” She responded and pushed herself up. Ignis was already standing, offering her a hand. It was amazing how during the fight she could swear he could see every move she made, but now…his hand was offered to her but it was a bit in general direction so it was up to her to find it and grab it.

“How do you do that?” she took his hand and found herself on her feet.

“I’m not completely helpless. Plus, lack of sight helps me focus on other senses and even feelings.”

“This glaive’s arrogance probably helped you.” At least she could admit she was beaten. She remembered a time when Tredd pulled pranks on her for a week because she kicked his ass.

“If you were arrogant, you wouldn’t take the loss so well.” He adjusted jus gloves and added. “Can ask you something?”

“Sure. It’s your right as a winner” Ada teased and walked with him towards the railing of the bridge.

“I know that the Marshal agreed to the idea about the restaurant and he had some conditions abut it and I also know that you, Gladio and Prompto managed to fulfil his conditions.”

At first Ada nodded but stupidly realized he couldn’t see that.

“Yes, we have.” She voiced her motion.

“Would it be extremely ungrateful of me, if I ask you to change the location?” he continued.

“No, especially since you ask so nicely.” Ada was more than impressed with his way of speaking. Part of her was even jealous. “But, where and why?”

“Galdin Quay.” He said calmly. “It is the place on this continent closer to Angelgard and I want to be as close as possible once the prince awakens.” He fell silent of a moment then continued. “Plus, they used to have excellent restaurant and as far as I am told must of their equipment is still there.”

“I really don’t see an issue with that.” Ada found the devotion Ignis had to the young prince more than admirable. Then again, the prince was their only hope for actual survival, she would probably camp in the water if that was possible and was going to bring him back to this world. “You might need to run that past Cor. I mean the Marshal.”

“I am aware who Cor is.” He gave her a teasing half smile and Ada realized she was blushing. Did he somehow know… “Did the Marshal give you trouble for that? Your voice was shacking when you mentioned him.”

“No, it’s not about that. We had a disagreement about something, but is unrelated.” It wasn’t actually a lie. It was just that she had a disagreement, with herself regarding him. At what point of her life did she become so unsure and scared of everything… “Can I ask you something. It’s fine if you don’t want to respond.” She decided to change the topic quickly before he sensed something else in her voice.

“Go ahead.” He had raised one of his eyebrows in curious expression.

“After Altissia…how…I mean it’s one thing to fight with me in more or less controlled environment, but you guys travelled so far. How?” She hoped that wasn’t pushing it too far.

“I had friends with me.” He didn’t even hesitate to answer. “And I had no choice. I have sworn to serve my prince and I would do anything I can to do so. Even if it wasn’t my oath, Noct means more to me than I can put into words. In Altissia I was ready to die for him, and that hasn’t changed ever since. Losing my sight is inconvenient, but as long as I could help him and support him, I will do that until I am breathing.”

Ada just stared at him admiring his devotion and wondering what kind of person was the young prince to inspire that. She had never spoken with the prince, just seen him few times. The royal family was rarely a responsibility of the glaives. She had a lot of respect of his father, but again it wasn’t because she knew the father but because of his actions. Ironically same actions that provoked respect in her had born anger in others.

“Did you know the glaive that put on the king’s ring?” Ignis’ question surprised her.

“Which one, there were two?” Ada could feel heart sinking somewhere in her stomach.

“Two? I always thought there was one. The glaive that defeated general Glauca.” He seemed surprised and Ada didn’t blame him. “I know that he passed away after the event, I tried to speak with Libertus but he avoided the topic.”

“They were close friends. We were all kind of close. You develop certain sort of affection toward people who fight and bleed with you even if you wouldn’t be friends in other circumstances, but these two knew each other before they joined the Kingsglaive. I think Libertus still hopes that Nyx is somewhere there but, if he was, we would have known. Also, no offence, but Nyx died after he put the ring, and here you are. I’m sure Libertus doesn’t hate you, it’s not your fault, but he probably cannot come to terms with the fact Nyx wasn’t so…lucky. If that could be called luck.” Ada was surprised at her own words. She never thought about that before, mostly because she had learned to accept things as they were long time ago. Ever since her family left Galahd she had been accepting what life was throwing her way and just fighting for her survival. She had accepted Nyx’s death and even if she mourned the loss of her friend in her own way, she knew no amount of ager or regret will bring him back. Too bad she couldn’t say the same about Luche’s death.

“You said there was another glaive?” she was hoping her words were forgotten but that wasn’t the case apparently.

“Libertus probably knows more about that than me.” Even if she was trying hard to avoid the topic, she actually knew very little about that. “He was somebody close to me, but decided to go where I couldn’t follow. Libertus told me he put the ring and the old kings killed him on the spot. That’s all I know.”

“The kings could be cruel.” Ignis added.

They both fell in silence after that. She had to fight her urge to defend Luche. She knew he messed up and he did deserve a punishment, but death? Losing a limb was going to be more than sufficient. And of course, there was Nyx. He didn’t deserve what he got either, but here they were.

“I will travel to Galdin Quay with Iris to set things up.” Ada said finally. “If you can just run it past the Marshal…” as she said that she saw a familiar figure approaching in the distance. ‘Fuck.’ Ada suddenly wished she could wrap somewhere but that wasn’t really an option. “I need to go.”

“Thank you, Ada” Ignis almost shouted after her since she was already on her way.

There was no avoiding that now. She took a deep breath and walked toward the city, same direction where the man she wanted to avoid was coming from. She tried to pass as far as possible from him but that didn’t work out. Her heart was beating so hard in her chest she thought she might drop down any moment now with a heart attack.

“I was hoping to wake up next to you today.” Cor had grabbed her wrist as she walked past him. It wasn’t a strong grip, in fact she didn’t even have to jerk her hand away in order to get free, but somehow, she found herself unable to release her wrist.

“I needed some fresh air.” She felt fourteen again, avoiding responsibilities with stupid excuses.

“Are you avoiding me again?” he let go of her and Ada was free to continue on her way but now she found it difficult to move away from him.  Everything about him was driving her crazy. His smell, his body, his voice, his eyes…she wanted him. Not just physically, she wanted all of him and it was strangely painful to realize that, but at the same time she couldn’t relax around him exactly because she wanted him so much.

“No, I just have things to do…” she did but none of these things had to be completed now. “I will drop by once I’m done, also I think Ignis wants to speak with you.” She said all that way to fast and her body was finally released from whatever spell or madness had taken over her. “Please, don’t be angry with me.”

She didn’t wait for his response just walked away as fast as she could, hoping that at least part of her body was showing some sort of purpose, because clearly, she had none. Ironically, her avoidance of any personal issues had motivated her to work harder and help the people of Lestallum, but sooner or later she had to face the mess she had already created. Ada hoped that a demon was going to kill her before that happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos make me extremely happy, so please leave them if you had fun reading!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignis finally gets the restaurant they all have been planning for him and Ada has to face Cor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are two songs mentioned in that fic. First one is The Best is Yet to Come, second one is sea shanty known as the Trooper and the maid. Just fyi if you were interested. 
> 
> Thank you for reading guys. Comments and kudos are more than appreciated. Check out my tumblr: http://the-immortal-marshal.tumblr.com or if you feel like you can feed my coffee addiction at: [Ko-Fi](http://ko-fi.com/aliaturin)

Three days had passed since Ada’s little chat with Ignis and here they were. Galdin Quay was witnessing the opening of its new restaurant. Prompto had come with a brilliant idea, make the first night ‘free’ where everyone can come and eat whatever Iggy has prepared, but they had to pay entrance fee. Since Ada and Gladio had taken care of all the ingredients the day before they agreed that they didn’t need any reward for that. However, everybody who visited had to pay a fee, the amount depending entirely on the patron. The income collected from these fees was going to be used to helped orphaned children. Everybody loved Prompto’s idea so here they were.

Gladio was standing at the entrance, directing people and collecting the entrance fee, Prompto was having hard time in the kitchen following Ignis’ instructions and literary being his eyes. Ada had agreed to help Iris with waitressing, they even managed to find (almost) matching black dresses which actually was harder than finding all the things Ignis had requested for. 

“Prompto!” Iggy roared and Ada rushed to make sure the kid wasn’t being massacred with kitchen knife. “I said tea spoon of sugar not table spoon. Table spoons are big ones, tea spoons are the small ones.”

“Hey Prom, why don’t you help Iris, I think I have more experience in the kitchen than you do.” Ada suggested as she grabbed an apron. Prompto was more than eager to escape from the kitchen.

“I might have pushed him a bit too far.” Ignis said after the blond man was gone.

“He needs to learn to work under pressure.” Ada smiled and Iggy did the same. “What do you need me to do.”

“Everything is prepared in the boxes right behind you.” It still amused her he knew where exactly was she standing and what was behind her. “You just need to help me put them in the pans and pots whenever ordered.”

That was easier said than done. Ignis was strict in the kitchen and as brutal as that sounded a pedant. Everything had to be perfect, which she appreciated but his lack of sight had made me way more cautions. At some point Prompto came back to apologize for being clumsy, and Ignis was kind enough to give him second chance. Ada was happy to give him the apron and run from the kitchen as fast as she could. Even Titus Drautos wasn’t as scary as the prince’s adviser.

“Is Prompto going to live?” Gladio asked passing her a glass of wine. She had no idea where or how he had found the wine, but she was grateful for it.

“That remains to be seen. He is at round two right now.” Ada finished her glass quickly and could feel it hitting her harder than it should. Of course, she hasn’t touched anything alcoholic in more than one year probably just the smell of wine could make her tipsy. “You have any more of that?” she pointed at the glass.  

“Of course, I do!” Gladio reached behind the bar and poured her another glass. Ada decided to go slower with this one. “So, you and the Marshal?” Gladio smirked as he said that and she suddenly regretted for not just grabbing the bottle.

“How do you know?” she could feel panic creeping in her mind.

“I didn’t. You just confirmed it.” His smirk has turned into a very wild smile. “I had a suspicion. You seem to be very eager to stay away from Lestallum, and even if you are not the only person who goes away for days, you are the only person he ever asked me about.”

“I’m not trying to stay away from Lestallum.” Ada said in her defense but realized she sounded a bit like a child who had just made terrible mess and was trying to deny it to her parents. “It’s just complicated.”

“Well don’t make it more complicated that it already is.” Gladio gave her reassuring smile and she knew he was right, but it wasn’t that easy. “I would kill for some music.” He randomly added. “There is a piano there, and Iggy is so good at it but….” He didn’t have to finish that sentence.

“If you help your sister with waitressing, I can sort out your music problem.” Ada winked at him.

“You can play the piano?” Gladio seemed pleasantly surprised.

“I haven’t been slashing and hacking at demons all my life. My mother used to be music teacher and she insisted I learn.” Ada was literary tortured as kid to play the piano, but she learned. “Help your sister.”

“I can do that” he offered her his fist for a fist bump and she hit hers gently against it. “By the way, the Marshal is here.” He just pointed with his head.

Ada followed his gesture and could feel her heart beating faster her eyes finally located Cor. He was chatting with Libertus and the moment she turned towards them, the Marshal’s eyes fell on hers.

“I need another one of these.” She drank her glass on one go and poured herself another one. “I will sort out your music problem.”

Gladio just chuckled as he saw her walk toward the piano. Ada knew she had to speak with Cor, but she also could use some distraction and time to arrange her thoughts before doing it. After all she wasn’t just avoiding him physically she was trying to think about him as little as possible which wasn’t working very well.

She sat in front of the piano and ran her fingers over the white keys without actually pressing any of them. It has been too long since she had played so that might turn out more embarrassing than she thought. She regretted not grabbing the whole wine bottle. She took a deep breath and exhaled loudly, pressing one key, then another. She let her fingers roam freely on the keyboard, the song she was thinking about just magically coming from under her fingertips. She didn’t sing but the lyrics of the song were running in her head as the sounds were coming from the piano.

It was a song from Galadh, ironically a love song, about lost love and heartbreak. Very fitting.

Once she finished that song she could hear Gladio cheering from somewhere behind her. That made her smile.

“Are you taking requests?” Libertus sat next to her.

“I can try.” Ada smiled. That felt a lot like the past. When things were way simpler. Or complicated, depending on the point of view.

“It’s an old shanty. I don’t recall the name however. It’s about a soldier and the girl he was trying to get laid with.” Libertus tried to explain as best as possible.

“That one?” Ada played few notes from the song she was thinking about.

“Yes!” he sounded way too excited.

“That is highly inappropriate song!” it wasn’t even a song it was just a shanty the sailors in Galahd would sing.

“Do you think anyone here cares about appropriate?” he pointed toward the people around. Galdin Quay might have been nice and fancy place some time ago but now was gathering of hunters, refugees, crownsguard and glaives. Maybe the song was appropriate.

“Fine. But you will sing with me.” Ada started the beginning of the song and Libertus gulped the content of his glass which seemed like whiskey or similar.

“A trooper lad came here at night, with riding he was weary, a trooper lad came here at night, when the moon shone bright and clearly.” They both sang together and it felt strangely good and familiar. Libertus had terrible voice so that was making her feel a bit better about herself. “Bonnie lassie, will you gang with me, bonnie lass, will ye lie near me, I'll get all your ribbons reel, in the morning ere I leave ye.”

The song went on and on, for Ada’s surprise she could see the people around enjoying it. She didn’t expect that a dirty shanty from Galahd’s docks would inspire such…positive reaction. Once they were done everyone clapped and laughed someone even whistled loudly.

“Know your audience.” Libertus laughed.

Ada didn’t even want to look at Ignis who was probably on the verge of killing both of them and she had no doubt he was capable to do so.

“You can continue entraining your audience, I have something to do.” She finished her wine and got up. She wasn’t drunk but there was pleasant buzz in her head. Good, that was going to make things much easier.

Cor was sitting at the bar chatting with Gladio who seemed like he was keeping an eye on Ignis and Prompto and probably making sure the latter doesn’t get stabbed with a kitchen knife.

“Can we talk?” Ada asked the Marshal as she approached them.

“Weren’t we supposed to talk three days ago?” he said with absolutely no feeling in his voice.

“Please?” Ada knew she fucked up, she didn’t need him to be a dick about it even if he had every right to act as one.

“Marshal, if you don’t talk with her, I will and that song was highly inspirational.” Gladio chuckled but his smile froze quickly on his lips as Cor fixed his eyes on the younger man. “It was a joke.” He added quickly.

“Come.” Cor grabbed her hand a walked her away without saying anything else. They went past the hotel down to the dock where it was dark and quiet. She could still hear the laughs and Libertus’ terrible singing but it all seemed muffed by the waves below them.

“First.” Ada started. “Let me apologize. It was childish of me, and if I said I will talk with you I should have done it.”

“Ada, you cannot continue like that.” He didn’t seem angry which probably was good thing, but at the same time she couldn’t even guess how he was feeling by his voice. It expressed…nothing. “One day you are in my arms, then you are gone with not even a ‘goodbye’, then you are back again offering me support and then you are gone again. I don’t have the patience for that. I like you, you are pretty, you make me laugh and the sex is great, but I am not fifteen.”

“Right.” She has been worried that her behavior might have pushed him too far away and seemed like she was right about that. Subconsciously she had done what consciously he didn’t want to do. “Can I explain? When I am done you can go if you wish. The Astrals know I deserve it.” He didn’t say anything but nodded for her to continue. “I like you. I’m attracted to you and you are right the sex is great. But I’m scared and I’m hurt.” Admitting that to him was terrible. She had admitted some of it to Libertus but she knew Libertus for more than five-six years now. It was easier. “The last person I trusted the way I want to trust you almost ended me.” She saw him opening his mouth to protest, but she didn’t allow him to continue. “No, just listen. He didn’t just betray me.” Technically he probably didn’t betray her, judging by the last test message he sent her, but she didn’t want to think about it. Ever. “It’s not about him turning against me. He betrayed everything. My friends, the place I was starting to call home, the things I thought we both believed in. It wasn’t just about some stupid relationship. I have lost my home twice now. That makes losing friends, family and everything I know, twice. The first time thanks to the empire, second time was more personal. How do you trust people after that? The Kingsglaive was my family. My second family. Turns out daddy was just cosplaying as Titus Drautos and half of my siblings killed the other half. I fought next to the people who betrayed the king. I have saved their asses multiple times same way they have saved mine. We bled, we laughed and at times cried together. You said it yourself when we met, your trust towards the Glaive has to be earned. But you trust the Crownsguard, you trust Monica, Gladio and the rest. I trusted my family. Didn’t work out very well.” She realized she barely had breathed while saying all that. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to avoid you or mislead you…I want you. I’m just terrified.”

“Are you done?” he asked and Ada just nodded sure he would just walk away now. “I didn’t trust the Kingsglaive. I didn’t trust Libertus when I first met him, but trust is earned not given. Don’t trust me. Let me earn it. But you have to allow me to try. I cannot do it if you disappear every time I attempt to do so.”

Ada looked in his eyes and knew that she was completely lost. She was happy he didn’t walk away, but what he wanted seemed so…difficult. She had opened to him more then she had to anyone else in the past twelve months, and that was freaking her out at the moment.

“No more running.” She finally said very quiet.

“Good.” He stepped closer to her, Ada had to lift her head up in order to be able to see him. “Now that’s out of the way can we just go to the pleasant part?”

She looked at him puzzled but the Marshal didn’t allow her to ask anything. He pushed her gently against the wall behind her and pressed his lips against hers. Ada opened her mouth allowing his tongue to touch hers. That was when the very familiar click from a camera’s flashlight came. They both turned towards the direction of the sound to see Prompto standing on the stairs, holding his camera and grinning.

“Prompto!” Cor roared, but the young man was quick to run up the stairs. “I will kill him.” He groaned. “In a bit.”

“In a bit?” Ada laughed.

“Don’t know where you found that dress, but getting under it right now seems more pleasant than killing a kid.” Cor chuckled and ran his hand up her leg and under the dress. He leaned forward and started kissing Ada’s neck.

“Cor, somebody might come.” She protested but a moan escaped her lips as she was doing it. His hand had already reached between her legs and was teasing her.

“So? We are not doing anything.” He grabbed her underwear and yanked it down.

She looked towards the stairs to make sure nobody else was standing there. It was just the two of them and the waves crushing against the docks. Ada stepped on her tiptoes and kissed him, her arms wrapping around him.

Cor didn’t seem to be in mood for any further teasing and playing. He bent down a bit and placed his hands on her ass, lifting her up. Ada wrapped her legs around him, her arms still around his neck. He kissed her fiercely barely allowing her to take a breath. She never heard him undoing his belt or zipper, but apparently, he had done it since next thing she felt was his full length going all the way in her. Ada almost screamed with pleasure and surprise in their kiss.

“Don’t make a sound, someone might hear us.” He whispered in her ear as his hips were moving almost violently against hers.  

At the pace he was keeping it didn’t take too long for both of them to finish, Ada was grateful he didn’t drop her down when he came, that would have been embarrassing.

“No more running.” He warned her as he was buckling his belt.

“Where is my underwear?” Ada pulled her phone out for some light.

“You don’t need it.” Cor chuckled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments give me HP and MP. Please support my HP and MP needs.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Libertus comes decides it's time for the Kinsglaive to attempt to reach Angelgard, Cor agrees, however he wants Ada to stay behind which doesn't sit very well with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading guys. Comments and kudos are more than appreciated. Check out my tumblr: http://the-immortal-marshal.tumblr.com or if you feel like you can feed my coffee addiction at: [Ko-Fi](http://ko-fi.com/aliaturin)

_Luche helped her on the bed even if she didn’t need his help and told him so multiple times._

_“You are injured.” He insisted._

_“It’s a scratch.” As soon as they were out of the Kinsglaive HQ he had switched from normal level of concern to a level which might suggest she lost a leg. She didn’t, it was just a scratch, one that was going to heal in couple of days with enough potions._

_“Do you want me to bring you something?” he was standing next to her bed, concerned written all over his face._

_“You can take your shoes off and come to bed.” She found his behavior cute and annoying at the same time. It felt good knowing he cared that much, but it was just a scratch._

_“I should have been there.” He said as he kicked his shoes off and climbed in bed next to her, pulling her in his arms._

_“Luche, it’s not your job to protect me. Things happen. People get injured. You have been injured before. Every single one of us has been injured at some point. It happens.” Ada tried to reason with him, but she knew if their places were reversed she would be as worried as he was, probably even more. They had made an agreement, no emotions and personal feelings on the battlefield, the HQ or anywhere work related. For the most part it worked, they were both adults and could act as such but seeing somebody you cared about screaming in pain required completely different level of self-control._

_“Have you ever thought what you would do once that is over?” he asked after he had placed a soft kiss on her head._

_“Not really…” she admitted realizing she never thought that would be over._

_“Not going back to Galahd?” he suggested pulling her closer to himself. That was when Ada realized it was just another dream, but funny even in a dream she could feel the warmth of his body._

_“Not much left there for me. My parents and my brother are dead, I’m not even sure if our house is still standing.” She had made Insomnia her home for the past four years, to some extend she did miss Galahd, but there was nothing there._

_“I will be there.” She might have been mistaken but he sounded a bit offended. “I want you to come with me.”_

_Ada’s breath froze in her chest. She wasn’t sure what to say to that. Their relationship wasn’t exactly normal. Sure, it seemed normal enough behind closed doors, but excluding Crowe nobody else knew they were a thing and that was for almost four years now._

_“You can say something.” Luche said after the very long silence._

_“I don’t know what to say. I mean…I want to but…I never thought you’d be interested to…” she didn’t finish. She had no idea how to finish that. Interested to what really?_

_“To?” she could hear him laughing now and turned around. He had the widest grin on his face. “Silly girl. We have been at that for four years. If it was just for the sex and some entertainment, the last thing I would do is get involved with someone in the Kinsglaive.”_

 

Ada suddenly opened her eyes, that wasn’t a nightmare, it was just a normal memory. It has been two months now since that night with Cor at Galdin Quay and her nightmares have reduced to probably one or two per week which was a real miracle. She could even sleep more than four hours on a good night. The past still haunted her, but somehow it wasn’t that bad.

“Why you again?” she had been dreaming of Luche a lot recently, he wasn’t trying to kill her anymore he was just himself. That was hurting her more than all the nightmares together. Somehow, she felt like she still loved him despite everything and the obvious fact he was dead.

She rolled on bed burying her face in Cor’s pillow. His side was still warm and she could still smell him on the sheets. The sensation helped her chase the dram away and come back to the present.

“That’s a nice view.” Cor said as he walked out of the bathroom. Ada rolled over, the bedcover falling completely off her body.

“I can say the same.” Ada smirked, her eyes pinned on his naked chest still covered in cold drops.  

Cor climbed on the bed get himself on top of her, only the towel wrapped around his waist was between the two of them. His skin was cold from the water in the shower and Ada tried to pull away but he held her in place.

“You are not going anywhere you will share my suffering.” He leaned forward and placed a kiss on her neck.

 “You have the stamina of a sixteen-year-old.” Ada giggled ash she wrapped her legs around his and pulled him closer to her to feel his hardness.  

“Comes with the immortality.” He pushed his hips closer to her, his lips kissing down towards her collarbones. At that time a very persistent knock on the door echoed in the room.

“Marshal.” It was Monica’s voice coming from the other side of the door and another knock followed. “Marshal we have a problem.”

“Of course, we do.” He grunted as he got up. “I will be there in a minute.”

He started dressing quickly with obvious frustration in his moved, but he didn’t complain. That was Cor the Immortal after all, the world might crash on his head and he still won’t complain. Ada smiled at that thought as she got out of the bed and started looking for her clothes.

“You owe me one.” Ada said as she was trying to find her jeans.  

“I don’t mind.” Cor gave her one of his rare smiles as he was pulling his booths on.

 “There is a massive Red Giant outside and we are not sure if we could stop him.” Monica explained almost running after Cor who was walking extremely fast. The woman greeted Ada with a friendly nod as she was still trying to put her leather jacket on. Cor Leonis waited for no one when he was told there was trouble. “We are afraid it will push the wall down.”

“Damn it!” as Cor heard her last words he was running towards the wall, the sounds of fight coming closer and closer and the ground beneath them starting to shake.

Ada was trying to keep up with him as best as she could but damn him, he was fast. When she finally managed to get herself to the wall with Monica, Cor was already on the other side with couple of other hunters. Ada followed him, wrapping on the back of the giant only to be thrown down just seconds later. On the other hand, Cor was doing significantly better. The man was made to fight and kill these things and whatever communication or other skills he lacked, were generously compensated with sword mastery.

Shortly after the giant was dead with very little help from her. Unfortunately, that event cost the life of two hunters and a glaive and did some serious damage to the barely stable wall.

“You knew him?” Cor joined Ada who was watching the dead glaive being covered in a body bag.

“Yeah of course. His name was Sadda. He joined the Glaive probably a year after I did.” Ada didn’t feel particular sadness which terrified her. She remembered her first funeral with the Glaives and she was barely able to keep her tears then. Than same night she had gotten so drunk Luche had to carry her home. After that it was getting better, the sadness and pain was still there but she learned to take it. But now…now it was just another death, out of many. It seemed almost like daily occurrence. “They are getting stronger.” She remarked, unrelated too the bodies in front of them.

“They are.” Cor agreed. He was going to add something else but then his phone went off. Ada watched him pull the phone and read a message. “Monica!” he shouted. “Make sure there are preparations to fix the wall. Ada, find Gladio and bring him to my office. Ignis and Prompto as well if they are around, if not don’t bother. Libertus has some news.”

Ada raised an eyebrow questioning but Cor didn’t say anything else. She has grown used to that as well. Cor would just give orders and then go on with his things without giving explanation. Ironically that reminded her far too much of Titus Drautos.

She found Gladio working out at the improvised gym they have made close to the power plant. She was surprised no one asked him to help by the wall, but on the other hand Cor and herself wouldn’t have known what was happening if it wasn’t for Monica.

“Coming to work out or for the view.” Gladio winked at her and Ada couldn’t stop but laugh. The man was terrible flirt and they both knew nothing could or would happen, but it was just the way they talked occasionally.

“I know a guy who would be very unhappy if I was here for the view.” Ada responded, still laughing.

“The Immortal?” Gladio sat on the lifting bench and cleaned the sweat that was covering his arms. “I cannot compete with immortality. How can I help you?”

“First of all, are Ignis or Prompto around?” Ada asked.

“Haven’t seen them or heard from them in about two weeks.” Gladio answered and there was certain sadness in his voice.

“You guys…broke up?” Ada was trying to keep the joking tone in case she was reading too much in his words, but somehow whatever he said made her a bit worried.

“Not really. We are just doing our own thing.” He fell silent for a moment but then continued. “Since Noct is gone…I don’t know. It doesn’t feel the same. We are still friends. I still love both of them. We just drifted away from each other.”

Ada wasn’t sure what to tell him. She knew they were all close, she saw that when she first came to Lestallum and she also knew that if one of them would cry for help now, the other two would come running. But the fact that they have split, each one of them doing their own thing was sad and somehow heart breaking.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” She finally managed to say. “Cor wants to see you.”

They didn’t talk much walking toward Cor’s office since Ada was preoccupied with her own thoughts. She wondered if Crowe was alive now if something like that could have happened to them. If they would just drift away from each other in the darkness that this world had turned into. How about Tredd and the others? How about….

…no she didn’t want to think about him.

As they reached Cor’s office here was already a gathering of people there. Dave, Libertus and Monica were all standing in front of the Marshal’s desk looking at a map. Cor was behind his desk and nodded and Ada and Gladio as they walked in.

“Okay everybody is here.” The Marshal said as Gladio closed the door. “Libertus?”

“Right as some of you know, we have been looking for a way to help the Prince. Now we know he is in a place where nobody can go and it’s up to him to deal with…whatever he has to deal, but we also know his somewhere in Angelgard.” Libertus pointed on the map where the island was located. “Thanks to Dave’s hunters we might have a way to get to Angelgard.”

“Nobody but the royal blood can go to Angelgard.” Gladio interrupted him. “The Astrals will smite anyone who tries.”

“Probably.” Libertus said very slowly and Ada had to admire how much he had grown since Insomnia. The role of a leader suited him. “However, there is a chance a Glaive can do it. The Kingsglaive have the King’s power. We are not of royal blood, but we can control the power. It’s risky, but there is a possibility that the Glaives can go there. From what we can see, we know that the island is infested with demons. If the Prince wakes up and turns up at Angelgard as we suspect, he will be with very unpleasant company.” There was a moment of silence, Libertus allowing everybody to process what was happening. “I would like to take the Kingsglaive and go to Angelgard.”

Ada’s eyes widened. She looked at Libertus, then at Cor, then back at Libertus.

“You might die there.” It was Dave who spoke first. “And I know we all here trade with Death every day, but that might be a very unpleasant and unproductive way to die.”

“It could also help the Prince.” Monica added.

“Noct would need all the help he can get and it kills me I cannot be there for him to protect him, but if that would work…” Gladio said very serious.

Ada had conflicted opinion. It was her duty to protect the prince and she had come to terms that she might have to give her life for that. On the other hand…they all spend so much time trying to save all these people, taking the Glaives away was going to make things harder.

“Fine.” Cor said and Ada raised an eyebrow. From all the people in the room he was the last one she expected to agree with that plan. “Ada will stay here to help me and Dave training any new recruits we need. With you guys leaving we need to speed up that process. You can take any other Glaives with you. I’d rather have you leave some, but if you think you need all of them, so be it.”

“What?” Ada almost shouted and everyone turned towards her.

“After Libertus you are the most experienced Glaive we have. I lose Libertus I need someone to take over. I cannot send you both to a mission with chance of certain death.” Cor explained without even hesitating.

“I will make the preparations and let you know about the details.” Libertus said very quickly looking at Ada and making his way toward the door. The other three followed, closing the door behind themselves leaving Cor and Ada alone.

“I don’t want special treatment.” Ada started trying to contain her anger.

“You are not receiving special treatment.” Cor walked around his desk and came closer to her. “We lost three good people today, two more last week, and the number will continue to grow. I don’t want to lose the Kingsglaive but we need the Prince, and if he gest eaten by demons all we do now is for nothing. But we can’t leave the people here either so I need you to stay.”

“You can ask anyone else to stay.” Ada was still angry. She felt like she was forced out of her own family for second time in her life and that she couldn’t do anything about it.

“I need your experience.” Cor insisted with a very calm voice but she could see the anger growing in his eyes.

“Monica has experience. Gladio has experience. I have a duty.” She failed to help her brothers and sisters once in a moment of need that wasn’t happening again.

“Do you still want to die that badly? Because there is a very good chance that would how it ends. Either the Astrals have a go at your precious Glaive or the demons.” His whole body was tense and his voice was rising, not shouting, but close enough. “Because if you want to die that badly here is a sword.” He pointed toward his katana.

Ada didn’t even realize how her hand lashed toward his face to slap him, but somehow, he managed to grab her by the wrist before her palm hit his face.

 “It’s not about dying. It’s about my ‘precious’ Glaive” she imitated the way he had said it. “They are my comrades and half of them already died without me being able to do anything. Excluding Libertus, everyone I ever called a friend in the Kingsglaive is dead. I am not letting that happen again. I don’t want to die, but I don’t want them to die either.” She was yelling at him.

“That is an order. I outrank you and I am giving you an order.” He was speaking slowly, the words coming out of his mouth like venom.

“Fuck you outrank me. Libertus is commanding the Glaive. I am part of the Kinsglaive, Cor. You have no right pull a rank just because you have feelings.” She was hoping she won’t say anything stupid in her anger, but controlling herself was getting harder and harder. “People die every day. I am sure the hunters that died today have families, or partners. Would you have ordered them to stay behind and not protect Lestallum just because someone will miss them? I don’t want to die Cor, but the moment I joined the Glaive I have accepted the fact that death will happen to me sooner than it does to most people.”

“Damn you Ada!” he yelled and she would have stepped back, but he was still holding her wrist. “You are the most experienced magic user and healer we have. You are a good fighter and you have a way with people. You are perfect to help me train more hunters. Damn your duty. Your duty is not to the Kingsglaive it’s to the kingdom and your kingdom needs you here not dying on some fucking island.” He calmed down a bit. “I also spoke with Libertus beforehand. He agrees that you have to stay.”

“I can’t believe it…” she said calmly but then started shouting again. “If you were in my place, what would you do? What would Cor the Immortal do? Are you going to refuse to join the Crownsguard on a dangerous mission just because I’m worried about you? Are you going to ignore the danger just because my heart would be broken?”  

“Ada, I have lost everything and everybody I care about.” He let go of her wrist and spoke in a more peaceful voice. “I couldn’t save my king and best friend because I was ordered to be out of town. I couldn’t help my prince. Everybody that I called a friend is dead. Yes, you are receiving special treatment. Yes, if things were reversed I would go, feelings or no feelings, but our places are not reversed and I have the power to stop you, and I will. I’m not going to outlive you as well.”

“Damn you Cor Leonis. I love you, but fuck you.” Ada said as she walked toward the door.

“Ada, come here!” he shouted after her as she opened the door. She didn’t turn back even when he shouted second time. Ada could hear his step behind her, but she didn’t care. She was too angry and upset to have another shouting match with him. Also, she chose the worse possible timing to tell him she loved him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and Comments give me HP and MP.


	11. Chapter 11 - Final Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this fic, since it's coming to an end. Thank you all for reading and for commenting, it means the word to me!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading guys. Comments and kudos are more than appreciated. Check out my tumblr: http://the-immortal-marshal.tumblr.com or if you feel like you can feed my coffee addiction at: [Ko-Fi](http://ko-fi.com/aliaturin)

Ada slammed the door of her apartment and stood still for few moments.

“Damn you, Cor.” She whispered in the dark. What could she do? Follow his ‘orders’. Fuck his orders. She wasn’t going to abandon the Kingsglaive again when they needed every able body. First time she didn’t really have a choice, now…

…then again, she didn’t want to go into another shouting match with Libertus. She knew him too well and if Cor had really spoken with him, he would side with Cor. Damn him as well.

Slowly she moved to the closet and pulled out her backpack and started shoving clothes in it. Some of her stuff were at Cor’s place but damn him, he could keep them or burn them, she didn’t really care.

Maybe that was for the best. After all, neither she nor Cor were big on sharing and talking about feelings. It always took a fight or some other similar situation for one of them to say something about how they felt about each other. She had to be extremely angry to spit out in her rage that she loved him. But there was that, love or no love, Cor Leonis could go and order someone else around.

Ada had loved two men in her entire life, still loved both of them and couldn’t be with either of them. One was dead, the other couldn’t understand what she was telling him. She wasn’t Cor’s girlfriend or lover or partner or whatever. She was a Glaive and had a duty before being Cor’s anything. She shouldn’t have gotten involved with him. She should have stuck to loving one man, a dead man, but at least all the damage he could have done was already done. Luche couldn’t come from the grave to tell her how to live her life.

“Ada.” Cor knocked on her door very loudly.

“I don’t want to talk with you.” She closed her backpack and went looking for her second pair of boots.

“Ada, I’m not below kicking that door open, I will talk with you one way or another.” He responded and there was still anger in his voice. Didn’t he have enough fighting? Why was he here for more?

She ignored him, he was free to do whatever he wanted with that door, she was going to leave that place anyway. She was strapping her boots to each side of her backpack as a loud thud came. Then a second one and the door opened violently with a crack.  Ada was still kneeling next to her backpack she turned around to see Cor, all anger, storm the room and rush towards her. She didn’t have much time to react, while she was attempting to get up he was already on her pinning her against the cold floor.

“Cor, let me go!” she tried to free her hands but he just trapped her wrists harder against the floor.

“No.” he was just standing on top of her icy blue eyes fixed on hers. “I love you. I shouldn’t have ordered you. I should have asked you. I should have told you I love you and that’s why I don’t want you to go to Angelgard.” He said all that in the same breath as if he was practicing all the way from his office to here.

They stood like that neither of them saying anything else. Ada could feel her hands hurting because he was stopping her blood flow, but she didn’t care about that right now. She could try fighting him off her of course, which wouldn’t end in her favour. He was twice her size and weight and his fighting abilities were superior. She also didn’t want to be away from him. She might have spat it in anger but it was true, she did love him, and what he said right now was probably the most romantic thing he ever said. The more she looked into his eyes the harder it was becoming to decide if she wanted to stay or to kick him.

“You are hurting me. My hands.” She said eventually and he eased his grip a bit but didn’t let go of her.

“Will you stay?” he asked moving his face closer to hers, their noses almost touching.

“Cor…” she said that as he leaned further and kissed her neck. “Cor…” he kissed her again. “I love you but…” he continued kissing her and she could feel her mind going in a direction opposite of the anger she felt until now. “I wasn’t angry, because you ordered me. I was, but not only. I don’t deserve the special treatment, I don’t deserve to live and have someone else to die in my place.” He wasn’t stopping his kisses. “Cor, are you listening to me?”

“I’m.” he stopped kissing her which was frustrating, but she wanted to talk.

“Cor, sex won’t fix that.” She said that with as much determination as she could, since sex was a pleasant alternative to arguing.

“Can I try to prove you wrong?” he grinned, but it was obvious he was joking. “Nobody is dying because of you. Your duty is not to die. Yes, I am giving you a special treatment, but I’m doing it only because I love you and I want you to be close to me. You are useful here and I don’t want to lose you. I cannot lose you. That’s the one and only time I have done something to protect you from danger and I have wanted to do it so many other times. Every time you go out on a hunt alone I want to go with you because I’m worried. Every time I know you will ask Monica for a job I want to tell her to give you a broom and make you sweep Lestallum. I know you are capable, by the Six, I know if you decide to fight me now you will give me a good run for my money, I will still win, but I know you are strong and I don’t doubt that, I just care about you so much and I don’t want to lose you. Not you. I have lost everything in my life. My best friends died and I was helpless. Half of the Crownsguard died with them and I was helpless. The Prince is gone and I am helpless. There is one thing I can protect and keep whole and that is you. I should have told you all that. Not even today, I should have said it weeks ago, I should have said it the moment I realized I love you.” He sighed. “I don’t think I have ever spoken so much in my entire life.”

Her heart was breaking as she was listening to him. She could understand him far too well. She had lost everything as well in the ruins of Insomnia. Friends, a lover, most of her senses, the ability to smile at silly things, sleep eight hours blissfully and her purpose. Perhaps going to Angelgard was exactly that, finding that lost purpose. She did love him, he made her smile again and feel somehow whole, but was that enough to just ignore her duty. Then again how much of that was her duty? She had followed her so called duty once before, ignoring her heart, allowing it to break, and where did that lead her? She was alive with the knowledge she had stood her ground, but for what? A year of pain and self-destruction? But that was different wasn’t it? It wasn’t about picking sides, and deciding who is right or wrong. It was about how selfish she wanted to be. What was more selfish of her? To leave everything just because he was ordering her to stay, out of love and concern, or to stay with him and let the other Glaives face their destiny.

‘Your unselfish choice fills you with selfishness’ she remembered hearing that somewhere and it somehow fit.

“I will stay.” She said the words barely loud enough for him to hear it. Cor’s lips curved in a smile. “But…you might have to show me how you fix it with sex. And you owe me one from this morning.” she added lauder and smiled back at him.

“Vixen.” Cor laughed and pushed his hips against hers making her feel his hardness.

“Long emotional arguments make you hard?” Ada moved her head up and kissed the smile on his lips.

“Being on top of you and pinning you to the ground does that for me. Adrenalin from arguments as well.” He kissed her cheek and moved down to her neck but he suddenly stopped and stared laughing.

“What?” Ada was confused and a bit disappointed that he had to interrupt his kisses.

“Nothing I just remembered something Clarus, Gladio’s dad, told me some time ago. See, before he married he was a bit like his son, or his son is like him. Lady’s man. Anyway, one day in moment of wisdom or heartache, I’m not sure, he told me that every man meets at least one redhead through his lifetime and they will usually turn his life upside down.” There was warmth in Cor’s voice every time he spoke about old memories of the King or his shield and Ada found that so gentle and kind. So different from the stern, serious man he usually was. “I think I met my redhead.”

“I’m turning your life upside down?” Ada wrapped her legs around him and pulled him closer teasingly.

“You make me feel alive. That’s a serious change of pace.” He grabbed her left hand and moved it to his chest. His heart was beating so fast Ada didn’t even need to press her palm against him to feel it. He didn’t say anything anymore, but continued kissing her neck, leaving wet marks. He let go of her hands and moved to unbuttoning her shirt, using the weight of his body as much as possible to keep her pinned to the floor. His movements were filled with lust and desire, he wasn’t gentle but somehow every kiss and every touch of his rough hands felt filled with love. His lips started leaving dark red marks over the exposed skin of her breasts and Ada moaned loudly arching her body towards him as much as his weight allowed her.

“You are mine.” He groaned between kisses as his hands moved between her legs and started undoing her jeans. Ada could feel the heat and desire in her raising, her underwear was already soaked and she wanted him in her.

“Prove it.” She challenged him with a smile and Cor stopped his kisses to look at her.

“You should be careful what you wish for.” With one quick move he pulled her jeans and underwear down. He moved up to remove his t-shirt and unbutton his pants. Ada reached to help him, but he completely ignored her. Without even pulling his pants all the way down, he leaned towards her again, his cold blue eyes pinned on hers and he rammed his full length in her. The sound Ada made was between scream and moan, not expecting the pleasant intrusion. He didn’t wait for her to relax but started moving his hips mercilessly, trying to prove a point. Ada tried to reach for his face, to pull him for a kiss, but her move seemed clumsy and more like a desperate attempt to grab him. She couldn’t silence her loud moans, and the more pleasure she was receiving from him the lauder she was getting.

“Cor..” she managed to say with soar voice between two moans and he leaned forward pressing his lips against her and pushing his tongue in her mouth. His thrusts were still strong and forceful, but pleasant hitting all the right places in her. “Harder.” She whispered in his ear as he pulled away from her kiss. The Marshal didn’t need second invitation for that, he was a good soldier and following orders was easy. He moved one hand between her legs his fingers rubbing her exactly where she needed. Ada could feel her body getting all rigid and she came hard around him, but the Marshal didn’t seem to pay any attention to that. He continued rocking in her hard and fast, her body clenching around him, until he finally found his own release and collapsed on top of her, his chest moving with deep rapid breaths.

They both stood like that, Ada finding his weight on top of her pleasant, trying to come back to her sense, Cor just breathing heavy, his whole body limp and tired.

“I’m sorry…” he mumbled as he rolled on the floor next to her, his pants still around his knees.

“What for?” She moved her hand to his chest and lazily started caressing his wet skin.

“If I hurt you, I didn’t mean to.” He pushed himself up and rolled on his side, his eyes staring at hers.

“I do recall asking you to go harder…” Ada smiled and touched his face with the back of her hand. He was so rough and handsome.

“You did?” he seemed puzzled but accepted it. He reached over her to the bed and pulled down the blanket covering both of them. “I was thinking, the Leville has an apartment on the top floor. Why don’t we move there? I need to open the hotel for common use anyway since we are having so many refugees.”

“Are you asking me to move in with you?” Ada could feel her heart beating so fast it felt like trying to break her ribs.

“I am.” he kissed her cheek gently. “We already established we love each other, under terrible circumstances, I guess we can do that one thing right.”

Ada looked around her apartment or more like her room, she had no attachment to this place and the only memories she had associated with it were the occasional night spent with Cor. Somehow, she felt that leaving this dark place would also mean leaving her loneliness and that seemed scary, but not terrifying. Even better, she was happy. She nodded in agreement and he pulled her closer to himself.

“That place needs a new door anyway.” They both laugh as he said that

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments give me MP and HP.


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